Man pleads guilty to rape, molestation

A 25-year-old Spokane man pleaded guilty Wednesday to raping and molesting a girl who was told not to report the abuse.

Chase Alexander Reed, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation before Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark. According to court documents, Reed admitted to detectives that he had sexually abused the girl for about four years.

The girl finally told her mother in July about Reed, who was the mother’s live-in boyfriend. The mother told the girl that they would handle the situation as a family, and the abuse wasn’t reported.

Things improved for a while, but the abuse started again, records state. The girl, who is now 15, called a sheriff’s deputy and said that Reed would spank her with a belt if she did not comply with his demands.

Clark scheduled Reed’s sentencing for July 12.

– Thomas Clouse

Judge grants request for garage hearing

A Spokane County Superior Court judge has scheduled a hearing at 1:30 p.m. June 6 to examine the River Park Square parking garage.

The hearing before Judge Kathleen O’Connor was granted at the request of former Spokane City Councilman Stephen Eugster, who has argued that parking spaces in the garage facing the outside should be closed until the sides are reinforced.

Pullman resident Jo Ellen Savage was killed April 8 after her car hit a barrier and fell from the fifth level. Witnesses told police that Savage’s car hit the wall at a slow speed.

River Park Square and the garage are owned by the Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.

“It’s the garage ownership’s perspective that this legal action lacks any legal merit,” said River Park Square spokeswoman Jennifer West. “They continue to believe that the garage is safe.”

At the hearing, Spokane officials will be asked to require River Park Square to improve the barriers or explain why that action isn’t necessary.

Last week, River Park Square presented a report to city building officials that said the barriers meet building codes. Mall officials said they are completing a more comprehensive study over the next few weeks to confirm the preliminary findings. The city plans to hire LSB Consulting Engineers to examine the mall’s report, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist.

“We don’t have the evidence at this point to take action as severe as Steve Eugster suggests,” Feist said.

– Jonathan Brunt