Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Claims of child assault, kidnapping under investigation

Spokane police are investigating claims that a 19-year-old homeless man sexually abused a 5-year-old girl, whose parents allegedly retaliated by tying him up in their basement and holding him at knifepoint.

In the three to four months leading up to the alleged assault and kidnapping on May 20, the parents had befriended the homeless man and occasionally allowed him to stay at their home in northwest Spokane, according to a search warrant filed last week in Spokane County Superior Court.

The parents left the man to babysit their 2- and 5-year-old daughters while they went grocery shopping for about an hour, they told police.

Both parents returned home, and shortly afterward the husband left again to meet a friend. His wife texted him that there was an emergency at home, he told detectives.

The wife said while bathing her daughters, she found dime-sized bruises on the 5-year-old’s thighs and redness on her genitals. The daughter later told police “details about being molested” by the homeless man, court records say.

The man, who had been sitting in the living room, became upset and was preparing to leave, the wife said. She grabbed a knife and ordered the man to sit back down while she texted her husband, she told police.

The husband returned home, brought the homeless man to the basement and tied him to a folding chair. The wife admitted to knocking the man over and lunging at him with the knife. She told police she “was going to cut his heart out” as “payback for what he had done.”

The couple then called the wife’s mother, who advised them to let the homeless man go, which they did. They reported the incident to Spokane police two days later, on May 22.

The homeless man also reported the incident to police, contacting them on May 24 to say he had been held in the basement.

Police are investigating.

An attempt to reach the parents was unsuccessful.

The Spokesman-Review is withholding names and other identifying information until charges are filed.