Loren Culp is a former police chief. He came in second in the open primary for governor, a Republican running against Democratic incumbent Jay Inslee of Washington. He lost. He came in third in the open primary for the 4th Congressional District in Washington, putting him out of the race. He also cost the city of Republic, Washington, $275,000 by bungling a child sexual assault case. He decided he didn’t believe the child and threatened her with prosecution.
He sent her home with a police officer whom she had been seeing and whom she first told about the abuse. He took advantage of her distress and had sex with her, even though she was only 17. He was not prosecuted because the age of consent is 16, but he is named in the suit.
She was seventeen when she went to the police, alleging her step-father had been sexually abusing her since she was five years old. When nothing happened in Ferry County, her grandparents went to the sheriff of Benton County who quickly investigated and arrested the step-father for child molestation, child rape, and incest. He pled guilty to two charges of child molestation and was sentenced to 67 months in prison.
According to Culp’s report after questioning the girl, he decided she was lying because she shuffled her feet and cast her eyes down. A child…talking about being raped for most of her life, shuffled her feet and didn’t always meet his eyes. He warned her she could be prosecuted for a false allegation.
According to the lawsuit, a second child came forward alleging abuse by the same man.
Incredibly, Cult insists the step-father is not guilty. “He had a son, so he didn’t want to spend 30 years in prison. He took the plea deal. Not everyone who takes a plea deal is actually guilty,” Culp told the Seattle Times.
- Seattle Times: Lawsuit accuses GOP gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp of mishandling child sex-abuse investigation
- iFiberOne: $275,000 dealt to victim after lawsuit blames Loren Culp and others in alleged mishandling of sex abuse case
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Tri-City Herald
Pasco, Washington · Sunday, December 04, 2022