PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man accused of six counts of first-degree child molestation and four counts of first-degree child rape is set to be arraigned on formal charges on Thursday.
Bail was set at $150,000 Tuesday for Charles Barron, 31, in Clallam County Superior Court.
The six counts stem from at least six occasions where Barron allegedly sexually assaulted a child and four times in which some form of penetration allegedly occurred, according to court documents.
These charges carry life sentences and up to $50,000 in fines per count.
Barron was arrested on Sunday following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior since 2019 with a child now almost 10 years old.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brent Basden upheld the prosecution’s recommendation for $150,000 bail, citing a likelihood of interfering with the justice system.
According to the probable cause statement from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were notified of the allegations by a call from Child Protective Services in Sequim.
Information from CPS was that a family friend reported the 9-year-old victim said she was touched inappropriately by Barron and that when she initially told her mother, her mother did not believe her.
An interview with the victim’s mother showed she had become aware of more recent incidents that occurred over the holidays last year.
Sheriff’s investigators asked if the victim’s mother would wear a wire while confronting Barron about the allegations in addition to confronting him in a recorded phone call.
On both occasions, Barron admitted to having inappropriately touched the victim with his hands, mouth and genitals on multiple occasions, some of which while other people were in the home with them, since 2019.
Prosecutor Michele Devlin requested electronic home monitoring as part of a condition of release, should he successfully make bail.
Barron corroborated the information he gave in the conversation with the victim’s mother during an interview with police following his arrest, despite initially denying some of the claims made by both the victim and the victim’s mother, according to court documents.
On Tuesday Barron was appointed a public defender, Harry Gasnick, after stating he could not afford a lawyer on his own.
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Reporter Ken Park can be reached at kpark@peninsuladailynews.com.
