A call from parents about concerning text messages on their daughter’s phone led to the arrest of a long-time teaching assistant on suspicion of rape of a child, Edmonds police said Tuesday. The investigation began Saturday after parents of a 15-year-old female student at Edmonds-Woodway High School discovered messages appearing to show an ongoing sexual relationship between their daughter and a teaching assistant. The 46-year-old man who lives in unincorporated Edmonds area was arrested Monday at his home and booked into Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of rape of a child in the third degree and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The teaching assistant, who is deaf, had worked with the teen girl for many years, and initial information indicates inappropriate contact may have been occurring for nearly five years, according to investigators. The 15-year-old girl is also deaf and has known the teaching assistant since she was in kindergarten. The Edmonds School District was notified immediately and initiated its internal response procedures. Investigators said they will examine whether other students may have been victimized by the suspect.
The five-year timeline suggests abuse beginning when the victim was approximately 10 years old, escalating from potentially grooming behaviors to sexual contact as she entered adolescence. Whether the suspect’s position working specifically with deaf students created isolation that enabled prolonged abuse, or whether warning signs were missed by school staff and family, affects assessment of systemic failures that allowed the relationship to continue. The fact that she knew him since kindergarten means he had been present throughout her childhood development, building trust that he then exploited.
The shared deaf identity between victim and suspect creates unique vulnerability where communication barriers with hearing parents, teachers, and peers may have isolated the victim and prevented disclosure. Whether the suspect used that isolation deliberately to maintain secrecy, whether he positioned himself as the victim’s primary connection to understanding adults, and whether the deaf community’s relatively small size created additional pressure not to report affects understanding of how abuse persisted. The text messages that parents discovered suggest communication method that finally provided evidence that previous conversations or observations might not have captured.
The parents’ discovery of concerning messages and immediate reporting demonstrates vigilance that many experts recommend but that can be difficult to implement with teenagers’ privacy expectations and encrypted communication apps. Whether the parents routinely monitored their daughter’s phone or happened to see messages accidentally affects broader conversations about parental monitoring versus teen autonomy. The “concerning” nature of messages suggesting sexual relationship rather than explicit abuse allegations indicates parents recognized inappropriate adult-child dynamic even if texts didn’t contain graphic descriptions.
The Edmonds School District’s immediate notification and internal response procedures suggest established protocols for handling allegations against staff, though questions about whether earlier warning signs were missed or reported but not acted upon will emerge as investigation continues. Whether the district conducted adequate background checks when hiring the teaching assistant, whether supervision of his interactions with students was sufficient, and whether mandatory reporter training equipped staff to recognize grooming behaviors affects institutional accountability.
The charges of third-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes reflect Washington law where sexual contact with minors under 16 by adults in positions of trust constitutes rape regardless of whether force was used. Whether additional charges follow as investigation develops, whether evidence shows abuse of multiple victims, and whether digital forensics of phones and computers reveal additional material affects final charging decisions.
