Carnie Convicted Of Raping 13-Year-Old

Sat., Sept. 20, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

A carnival worker has been convicted of repeatedly raping a 13-year-old girl he grabbed outside a Spokane Valley convenience store late one night in March.

A Superior Court jury deliberated for just over two hours Thursday before convicting Terry L. Purcell, 31, of four counts of first-degree rape.

He faces from 26 to 35 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 12.

The victim testified Purcell raped her behind a building before taking her to his trailer at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, gagging her with a tennis ball, tying her up and raping her several more times, once with a baseball bat.

He claimed the girl consented to the sex.

Purcell was one of about 20 carnival workers who lived at the fairgrounds until county commissioners evicted them this spring.

, DataTimes

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