COVINGTON, Wash. — A 58-year-old Covington man charged with raping a 15-year-old special education student has turned himself in after a $500,000 nationwide warrant was issued for his arrest.
Prosecutors said that between Aug. 7 and Sept. 14, Michael Wearmouth had sex with the girl, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car crash last year.
The victim is a Kent resident. Her father said that because of the injury, his daughter’s intellectual development is at a fifth-grade level and she is in special education classes.
“We really see our youth, in this case an adolescent, who is preyed upon by this person. And it’s compounded by a traumatic brain injury stemming from that collision which made her even more vulnerable,” said Capt. Tim Meyer of the King County Sheriff’s Office. “The idea that someone like this would take advantage of our most vulnerable and our youth is just disturbing on so many levels,” he said.
Investigators said the girl’s father and others repeatedly told Wearmouth to stop communicating with the girl but Wearmouth refused and kept talking to her through social media. According to court documents, the girl’s father said when he realized there was sexual activity going on, he called police.
Prosecutors said that on numerous occasions Wearmouth picked up the victim and drove her to his Covington home where he gave her methamphetamine and marijuana in exchange for sex, court documents said.
Although King County charging documents said, “It is the State’s understanding that the defendant is currently employed by the City of Maple Valley as a Little League umpire,” the city of Maple Valley said that is not the case.
Maple Valley City Manager Laura Philpot said Wearmouth was hired Sept. 9 and only umpired adult softball games on two days, working a total of seven hours for the city.
“Michael Wearmouth was not hired to umpire, nor did he umpire, any children’s games,” Philpot said. “Michael Wearmouth is no longer an employee of the city.”
Wearmouth’s Facebook page shows posts and photos where he is wearing an umpire’s uniform for “Little League 10″ in Auburn. KIRO7 reached out to league officials but did not hear back from them in time for this story.
Prosecutors requested that Wearmouth’s bail be set at $500,000.
He is charged with third-degree child rape, communication with a minor for immoral purposes, commercial sexual abuse of a minor and violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
In 1997, Wearmouth was convicted of felony harassment. Originally filed as second-degree assault, according to the charging documents, the case was “an incident where he menaced a woman with a knife.”
KIRO7 also stopped by Wearmouth’s Covington home, and called the suspect as well as his mother but did not reach anyone for comment.