Rape Suspect Pleads Innocent To Charges

A Sumner man, considered a suspect in more than a dozen rapes in three counties, pleaded innocent Monday to charges filed in attacks on two King County women.

Jeffrey Paul McKechnie, 26, was arraigned on two counts of first-degree rape, two of first-degree robbery and two of first-degree burglary in the attacks Feb. 25 and March 29 in suburban Kent, said spokesman Dan Donohoe in the King County prosecutor’s office.

These charges are “the only ones filed so far,” Donohoe said.

McKechnie, being held on $500,000 bail in the King County Jail, is considered a suspect in a total of 11 rapes and two attempted rapes in King, Pierce and Thurston counties.

He expressed interest in pleading guilty, but the court could not accept a guilty plea at this early stage, Donohoe said. No attorney had even been appointed to represent him, the spokesman noted.

McKechnie likely will consult with an attorney in the next week or two, Donohoe said. His next court appearance will be July 20.