Man accused of assaulting woman on Liberty Lake trail charged with raping, attempting to strangle teen girl

The 24-year-old accused of assaulting a woman on a Liberty Lake trail earlier this year is now charged with raping and attempting to strangle a 15-year-old girl.

Ethan Cunningham is charged with rape of a child in the third degree, rape in the second degree, three counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree assault.

He pleaded not guilty on all counts at his arraignment Tuesday.

The victim, now 19, reported Cunningham’s repeated assaults following his June arrest for the Liberty Lake attack.

Cunningham was charged with assault for allegedly grabbing a female hiker on a Liberty Lake trail, pinning her to the ground and choking her.

The hiker fought back, and Cunningham rolled off of her and ran away, she told law enforcement.

Cameras near the area captured the license plate of a vehicle matching the one the woman saw the assailant in. The car was registered to Cunningham, according to court records.

Cunningham was in jail awaiting trial on the Liberty Lake assault when he was charged with raping the teenager.

The girl said she met Cunningham at the end of 2019 or early in 2020 on Facebook when she was 15. He messaged her something along the lines of “hey cutie, you don’t have to be alone tonight,” according to court records.

That same night, the teenager invited him over to her house. When he arrived, the girl told him she was 15 and Cunningham said he was 20 or 21, the girl told police.

Cunningham slept over that night, the girl told police. Shortly after that day, Cunningham asked the 15-year-old to have sex with him, threatening he would get a new girlfriend if she refused, the girl told police.

At first, the girl agreed and the two began having sex, but Cunningham quickly began forcing himself on her, she told police. Cunningham would choke her while sexually assaulting her, the girl told police.

The situation continued through 2021. Multiple people, including medical professionals, witnessed injuries inflicted by Cunningham, documents said.

At one point during the two years the pair were involved, the girl said Cunningham raped her at the Mackenzie Natural Area in Liberty Lake, the same place Cunningham is charged with assaulting a hiker.

Multiple members of the girl’s family told police they saw red flags in her relationship with Cunningham. The girl and her family both noted she was in a rebellious phase at the time of the relationship.

After they broke up, the girl shared some of Cunningham’s abuse, family members told police.

The girl’s mother told police Cunningham had been trying to get her daughter to come to Liberty Lake shortly before he allegedly attacked the hiker.

She feared Cunningham could have killed her daughter if she had gone to Liberty Lake, because he had threatened to kill her around the time of their breakup, the mother told police.

Cunningham remains in the Spokane County Jail on a $400,000 bond.