Sex offender faces charges of raping girl

A 29-year-old registered sex offender was arrested Tuesday on a warrant charging him with two counts of raping a 13-year-old girl while camped along the Spokane River.

According to court documents, Grady Lee Jackson twice raped the girl with his finger while she was sleeping, between June 27 and July 7.

The girl told officers Jackson fondled and kissed her while “pestering her for sex” while they were camped along the Spokane River, downhill from the intersection of West Ohio Avenue and North Summit Boulevard.

The girl said she refused Jackson’s advances, but woke up more than once to find him sexually abusing her, according to court documents.

The girl said she was afraid of Jackson because he frequently brandished a “long knife” that another witness described as a machete.

The witnesses included another 13-year-old girl and a man identified as John Cheeney.

Police said Cheeney told them he met the girls June 28 at a downtown shelter and took them to the campsite.

Spokane police Sgt. Joel Fertakis reported that he and Cpl. Raymond Harding went to the camp and found the partially undressed victim sleeping about 2 inches from Jackson.

Court documents say Jackson was convicted of second-degree child molestation in 1994. His victims were between the ages of 13 to 15.

He had been living at 6704 N. Market St. but disappeared after being charged on April 21 with a probation violation related to his sex-offender registration, according to police.