PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man accused of fondling a 10-year-old last September pleaded not guilty to sex crimes Friday.
Dale L. Wilkinson, 41, is charged with first-degree child molestation and second-degree possessing a depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Police said he allegedly touched the girl’s bare chest and took a photograph of it with his cellphone.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams set a March 19 trial.
A status hearing is set for Feb. 16.
Sequim police arrested Wilkinson on Dec. 22.
Wilkinson was released on his own recognizance with bail conditions, including a no-contact order with the girl, after his first court appearance Dec. 23.
According to court documents, a 9-year-old friend of the victim told her mother and a school counselor that the girl disclosed the crimes at a sleepover.
Sequim police interviewed the victim, the victim’s friend, the victim’s mother and Wilkinson, who at first told investigators that he did not take the photo.
Wilkinson described the touching as “incidental and unintentional,” court papers said.
No explicit images were found on the cellphone.
After passing a polygraph test, Wilkinson said he had taken an inadvertent photo of the victim’s exposed breast.
Police said that, in a follow-up interview, Wilkinson said the photograph was intentional, that he viewed it three times and that he placed his hand on the victim’s chest, according to a four-page statement of probable cause.