Dad Whose Daughter Refused To Testify Gets 25 Days In Jail

A man whose daughter refused to testify against him in a highly-publicized rape case will serve five weeks on a county work crew for killing his two dogs.

The sentencing Friday in Pierce County District Court came three months after the Spanaway man, who is mentally retarded, was arrested after his 15-year-old daughter accused him of raping her.

She later recanted her story, saying she had made it up to keep from having to move with the family to Idaho. Prosecutors didn’t believe her and brought her father to trial.

After the girl refused to testify eight times and was held in contempt of court for two weeks, the charges were dismissed.

The man pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment in July in connection with the dog deaths. Prosecutors had agreed to a 10-day sentence, but Judge Tom Larkin went well beyond that, saying he was concerned for the man’s family.

Larkin sentenced the man to a year’s jail term but suspended all but 100 days. Since the man has served 75 days in jail awaiting trial, he has to serve only 25 days more, and chose to serve on the county’s work crew.

Prosecutors said the man, a pig farmer, came home intoxicated on Jan. 29, discovered the two dogs had defecated in a garage and allegedly rounded them up and shot them before his daughter’s eyes.