WSU staffer accused of molestation
Judge sets $25,000 bail for alumni association employee
Pullman police arrested a Washington State University administrator suspected of molesting a 13-year-old girl attending his daughter’s birthday party.
Jud Preece, 49, was booked into the Whitman County Jail on Sunday. He faces charges of second-degree child molestation, accused of inappropriately touching and kissing the girl on Friday night.
Preece is the senior associate director of membership services for WSU’s alumni association, according to the school’s website.
Charging documents in court allege Preece brought the girl from the party to his home alone, made sexual advances during a movie and told the girl not to tell anybody about what happened that evening.
The girl told police her father was away on a fishing trip to Alaska and that she was staying with the Preece family. Court records allege she became frightened and attempted to rebuff Preece’s advances, finally slipping into a different room where she sent a text seeking help.
When police confronted him with the accusations, Preece initially said the touching was accidental. Preece later changed his story and began to cry, according to court records. At a first appearance in Whitman County Superior Court on Monday afternoon, a judge set Preece’s bail at $25,000. He is next due in court on Thursday.