Man jailed in child rape case found dead despite suicide watch

EVERETT – A sex offender who was on a suicide watch while being held for investigation of child rape and other offenses has been found dead at the Snohomish County Jail, officials reported.

David Herget, 62, of Mountlake Terrace, accused of luring boys at a church, was being checked every 30 minutes before being found dead at 4 a.m. Saturday in his cell in the special custody unit, jail spokesman Jim Harms said.

Herget was arrested Friday and placed on suicide watch after relatives expressed concern that he might try to harm himself, Harms said.

Relatives would not comment. Cause of death was under investigation pending an autopsy by the Snohomish County medical examiner.

Herget, convicted of child rape and child molestation in 1993, was the first man to die in the county jail since 2003, Harms said. He had been registered with Mountlake Terrace police as a level 1 sex offender, considered the least likely to reoffend, since 1997.

He was being held for investigation of six counts each of child rape and child molestation, three counts of sexual exploitation of minors and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes with bail set at $345,000, Harms said.

Authorities believe he lured boys he met while attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mountlake Terrace, said Pete Caw, assistant police chief in the suburban north of Seattle.