Sex offender gets at least 10 years

A Spokane Valley sex offender may spend the rest of his life in prison – or 10 years, at least – for sexually assaulting an espresso-stand clerk and robbing the till last August.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen sentenced Jason William Bocook, 27, to a term of 10 years to life Wednesday. A parole board will determine whether he can safely be released after he serves 10 years.

Bocook pleaded guilty earlier to second-degree assault with sexual motivation and first-degree burglary in an Aug. 9 incident at the Java Jump espresso stand at Mullan Road and Valley Way. He reached into the hut to fondle a clerk and steal cash.

A Rathdrum, Idaho, man with a police scanner heard a description of Bocook and saw him on a bicycle at another espresso stand, the Supreme Bean at 3101 N. Argonne Road. Sam Losberg called 911 for a better description and kept an eye on Bocook until sheriff’s deputies came to arrest him.

Bocook previously was convicted of first- and second-degree rape for assaults on two girls, ages 8 and 12. He also had been convicted of failing to register his address, and was charged with a probation violation for allegedly having contact with children.

Bocook was not the first to assault a female clerk at the Java Jump shop at 401 N. Mullan. Joseph Ray Walton recently was sentenced for a Nov. 12, 2000, assault and robbery at Java Jump – as well as other crimes, including first-degree rape at a tanning salon.

Claiming to have a gun, Walton fondled a 19-year-old Java Jump clerk after binding, gagging and blindfolding her. The clerk believed Walton was scared off by another customer before he could rape her. Like Bocook, Walton robbed the till.