SEQUIM — A 21-year-old man described as a transient has been booked into the Clallam County jail and is expected to be charged Tuesday in the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a shed east of the soccer fields near Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.
Jeremiah Joyce was booked into jail Thursday and remained there Saturday for investigation of one count each of second-degree rape of a child and unlawful imprisonment.
Joyce was being held on $5,000 bail, set during a Friday Clallam County Superior Court hearing presided over by Judge Erik Rohrer.
Deputies’ account
The Sheriff’s Office gave this account, taken from a description the alleged victim gave to a Sequim police detective:
In October last year, Joyce led the teen, whom he had become friends with, to a “chicken coop”-type building about 100 feet east of North Rhodefer Street near Carrie Blake Park after they had been hanging out at the Sequim Skate Park.
As the two talked in the shed, Joyce moved closer and closer to her, the girl told police, making her uncomfortable, and touched her inappropriately as she protested, then forcibly had sex with her.
The girl said she tried to get away, but Joyce grabbed her by the hood of her sweatshirt and pulled her back into the building.
The girl positively identified Joyce in a photo lineup provided by the detective.
The girl reported the alleged rape initially to a counselor and her parents earlier this year.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.