Prison guard and his wife charged with luring Kennewick student for sex

A husband and wife are charged with trying to lure a young Kennewick teen into a sexual relationship by giving the girl love letters, a promise ring and a cellphone.

Kimberlee A. Farber allegedly used her job at Chinook Middle School to contact the girl, later telling police she only participated so she would not lose her husband, Roy David Farber.

Kim Farber, who was a part-time paraeducator since October, has been fired, according to a Kennewick School District spokeswoman.

Dave Farber, a correctional officer at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Oregon, had told the girl “he cannot get in any trouble for anything they are doing” because of his job, court documents said.

The status of his employment was not available Friday afternoon.

During a brief hearing in Benton County Superior Court, Dave Farber, 31, pleaded innocent to sexual exploitation of a minor, communication with a minor for immoral purposes and three counts of second-degree possession depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. His trial is set to begin Feb. 26.

Kim Farber, 27, is charged with communication with a minor for immoral purposes. She remains out of custody and has been sent a summons to appear in court Jan. 25. The Farbers live in Kennewick.

The alleged relationship between Dave Farber and the girl came to light Jan. 2 when he gave a letter to the teen’s parents professing his love for her.

The parents then searched and found a cellphone in her room that contained numerous sexually explicit messages between the teen and Farber. The messages included several exchanges of naked pictures, documents said.

The parents didn’t know where that ZTE flip phone came from. They had previously taken away a phone they had bought for her.

Her parents told Kennewick police they began to have concerns about Farber last May based on what they saw when he was around the girl.

Farber’s letter to them said he loved her “more than he would like to admit,” and if he wasn’t married to his wife and if the teen was older, he would have considered marrying her, documents said.

Her parents reported finding more letters from Farber to their daughter.

The teen told detectives she and Farber realized they had feelings for each other last summer. She went to his apartment a number of times and he kissed her and asked for nude photos.

She said Farber gave her a promise ring and that his wife helped pick it out.

After her parents confiscated her phone, Farber had his wife give the girl a flip phone at school.

A letter dated Jan. 5 was included with the new phone.

Farber wrote that he had written her parents and, if questioned about the alleged relationship, to say “things got kind of messed up, but people make mistakes and you know that we would like to be just friends … We make each other happy,” court documents said.

Farber added that she would not be lying to her parents or a therapist because they are best friends.

“My love, the only thing that can stop our love is you and I … or perhaps death. Not your parents, not your therapist, not anyone!” he allegedly wrote.

The letter also included the PIN number for the phone and instructions that, if caught with it, to say she grabbed it by accident on the bus. “Say that you need to take it to lost and found. Give it to (his wife) at that point,” he wrote.

Farber reportedly closed the letter calling the teen, “Baby,” and saying he loves her “to the ends of the galaxy and back.”

Prosecutors allege that his wife put her initials in a heart on the letter and included her cellphone number that the girl could text.

Kim Farber told police her husband told her a couple of years ago that he is attracted to young girls. She admitted to facilitating communications between her husband and the teen while at school, documents said.

Kim Farber first worked as an occasional substitute paraeducator with the Kennewick School District in September 2016. A paraeducator assists with special needs and other students.

She was hired part-time in October 2017 at the middle school, said district spokeswoman Robyn Chastain, who referred all other questions to Kennewick police.

Dave Farber was arrested Monday night. Investigators seized his phone, computers and other media storage devices.

His bail is set at $50,000.

If he gets out of the Benton County jail, he must avoid contact with all minors and any witnesses in the case, including his wife. He also must stay off the internet, avoid using a cellphone and hand over all guns to the Kennewick Police Department.