The charges were one count of second degree and one count of third-degree rape of a child.
On Tuesday morning, a jury at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent returned verdicts of not guilty, and not guilty in the case of state vs. Ronald Williams, wrapping up a two-week long trial.
The King County Prosecutor had alleged that the now-53-year-old Auburn man took a then 14-year-old Mt. Baker Middle School student to his apartment on Oct. 9, 2018, where he raped her.
But defense attorney Anna Samuel drove William’s case through holes in the girl’s credibility, noting her history of using a computer to contact men, and her reputation for making up stories, including stories about previous sexual assaults that had never happened.
Here, according to the account written up by the Auburn Police Department, is a summary of what happened:
At about 12:40 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, Auburn officers responded to a call from a girl about a possible kidnapping and sexual assault in the 500 block of 37th Street Southeast. Officers found the girl, who reported that a felony had occurred at 537 37th St. SE. Police say the girl had picked up her attacker’s cellphone during a lull in the assault and called 911.
Police said when they arrived and escorted the girl away, Williams barricaded himself in his apartment with a handgun and refused to come out, At that point, Valley Com dispatched negotiators and the Valley SWAT to the scene, Shortly before 5 p.m., that day, Williams surrendered to police, without further incident.
No shots were fired during the standoff.
The girl later told police her attacker had stuck what she believed to be a gun in her back as she was walking to school, ordered her to cooperate and play nice,and directed her to his apartment.
But Samuel produced medical records to establish that Williams had sustained foot, ankle and shoulder injuries that would have prevented him from running across the street to get to the girl and physically subduing her, as she had alleged in her account to Auburn Police.
