Spokane man charged with molesting 4-year-old, failing to register as a sex offender after previous child sexual assault conviction

A 48-year-old Spokane Valley man has been charged with molesting a 4-year-old and failing to register as a sex offender.

It is not the first time Joseph Haughton has been charged with the sexual assault of a young child.

Court records show he was arrested, charged and convicted of perpetrating indecent acts upon a child under the age of 16 in Missouri in September 1991, while he was in the U.S. Army. He reportedly confessed at the time to assaulting his 6-year-old victim, who was the friend of Haughton’s young daughter.

Police allege that Haughton assaulted a 4-year-old girl in Spokane in October 2017.

The victim later told her mother that Haughton had touched her inappropriately, court documents say. The victim’s mother then reported the incident to police and had her daughter medically examined, according to court documents.

When a child forensic interview specialist spoke with the girl, she reportedly repeated the same story she had told her mother.

Haughton was contacted by police in March 2018 and asked if he was available for an interview related to the investigation, according to court documents.

In a brief phone interview, Haughton admitted to police he was living at 11310 E. 30th Ave. in Spokane Valley but told police he would be busy for “the next five years,” according to court documents.

Police say there was no record of him registering as a sex offender, which was required by law after his conviction in Missouri.

Haughton was arrested by U.S.marshals on Jan. 17 and charged with child molestation in the first degree and failing to register as a sex offender, according to court documents.

When interviewed by Spokane police, court documents say Haughton denied molesting the child in Spokane and the crimes in Missouri.

He was released on $50,000 bond on March 19 with an order not to contact the victim.

Haughton’s trial is scheduled for Dec. 9.