Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 12:24 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Authorities are investigating an arson that occurred overnight at the offices of a Centralia community services organization.

Fires were intentionally set in two different rooms in the building on the 200 block of West Reynolds Avenue, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

Damage at Reliable Enterprises is estimated at as much as $10,000, according to a news release.

Firefighters responding about 2:35 a.m. to an automatic fire alarm found smoke coming from the west side of the building and called for help from fire departments in Chehalis and Rochester, according to the news release.

Crews were able to get inside and hold the flames to two office rooms, according to Riverside Fire Authority Chief Jim Walkowski.

Several items of evidence were collected for analysis, the chief said, although he declined to share specifics.

It was not an accident, it definitely looks like a set fire, Walkowski said.

“Someone intended to cause significant damage to the building,” he said.

The fire investigation team has interviewed several people, but have no suspects.

Reliable Enterprises was founded in the 1970s to assist individuals with developmental disabilities.

The wood and metal building houses administrative offices on one side and the actual business where its clients work on the other.

They sell donated building and construction products, according to the chief. That side was unaffected and a representative told him it shouldn’t affect daily operations, Walkowski said.

The damaged offices were two of several like them inside the building.

Whether they have particular relevance is not yet known, the chief said.

“We have lots of interviews and lots of leads to work,” Walkowski said. “We don’t have any idea what a motivation might have been.”

Reliable is also involved in housing services, Head Start and “payee services” assisting clients with managing their money, among other programs, according to information from the organization.

No injuries were reported.

Updated at 3:18 p.m. on Saturday April 28, 2011

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The jury came back with guilty verdicts in the rape trial of former Pe Ell High School softball coach Todd Phelps.

It took six men and six women a little more than four hours between yesterday afternoon and this morning to make their decision.

Phelps, 52, was handcuffed and taken down to the jail.

The benches in the the courtroom in Lewis County Superior Court were packed, except for about half of them on the defendant’s side of the room.

Phelps faces as much as six years in prison when he is sentenced in the case involving a 16-year-old student player.

A sentencing date has not been set.

The expected four day trial that began last week extended into eight days as prosecutors attempted to prove Phelps gradually seduced a girl already troubled with low self esteem and depression and ultimately had sex with her they said was clearly against her wishes.

Jurors heard witnesses testify about thousands of texts exchanged between the two, before and after Phelps was forced to quit his coaching job because of boundary violations with the player.

Defense attorney Don Blair painted a picture of a caring father-figure who was attempting to prevent a suicide. Blair said his client never thought he did anything inappropriate.

The now-17-year-old girl spent a day and a half on the witness stand

Phelps did not testify.

He was found guilty of third-degree rape as well as second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor in connection with encounters last spring and summer with the high school student.

The jurors also found he used his position of trust with a particularly vulnerable victim, meaning the judge can sentence him above the standard sentencing range.

The potential sentence is anywhere between six months to six years, according to Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead.

Phelps’ family and lawyer quickly vanished from the courthouse following the verdict.

The victim’s family slowly made their way out of the courtroom in Chehalis as they exchanged hugs with each other and others. It was very quiet.

Judge Nelson Hunt had warned spectators there should be no outbursts when the verdict was read.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said he had little to say since the sentencing is pending.

“As always, we have trust in the jury system,” Meyer said. “But the case isn’t over, so that’s all I can say.”

Before the jury began deliberating on Thursday afternoon, they heard an almost three hour summary from both sides about what they should consider.

Deputy Prosecutor Halstead spoke for more than two hours reminding jurors of the many details – lots of talk with sexual overtones – they’d heard that suggested Phelps had a different motive than helping a troubled teen.

In mid-April of last year, after the assistant coach was told by the school and her parents to stop having contact with her except at fast pitch, it continued with constant texting including one from him the following morning, according to Halstead.

“This should have been the end of all of this,” he said. “The state would submit to you he has a different agenda.”

Defense attorney Blair subtly told jurors it was her word against his.

None of the lawyers were involved in the situation when it was going on, he said.

“We can’t tell you, we have to rely on what everybody else said happened,” he said.

Blair agreed there were a lot of “contacts” but reminded jurors the content of the messages were unavailable, and said the prosecutor’s case relied upon a lot of smoke.

The defense attorney spoke of how Phelps had coached for as long as 18 years before “all of the sudden” something like this comes up.

His client was concerned because he learned the girl had been cutting on herself, something her father yelled at her about when it came to his attention, Blair said.

He made no secret he was trying to help her, Blair said.

Blair argued some of the prosecution’s witnesses were mistaken and that the April 2 incident at Phelps house about kissing and Phelps pressing his body against the girl’s did not happen.

“I’m not saying any of these folks did or did not lie,” Blair said. “But we know all of the stories can’t be true, because of the lack of consistency.”

The detectives found no blood on the carpet in Phelps’ brother’s house, which the girl said soaked through a towel, Phelps’ computer wasn’t analyzed and much of the prosecutor’s case relied upon what the girl and her friend said, the defense attorney said.

“Other than the contact, we don’t have that hard proof,” he said. “It’s just not there.”

On the topic of the alleged rape on July 27, Blair offered indications of both his client not even being present and if he was, that it did not amount to rape.

The defense attorney noted phone records that showed Phelps and his wife were texting late that afternoon.

“In order to get a text and reply 30 second later, one would think you’re at your phone, not committing a sex crime,” he said.

Deputy Prosecutor Halstead pointed out the records showed texts and phone calls, not all of which were answered immediately and argued they supported what the teenager told detectives.

“The defendant’s whereabouts, despite the testimony from his daughter, cannot be accounted for,” Halstead said.

Halstead reminded jurors of testimony from others that would help them understand why Phelps asked the teenager to meet him at his brother’s house the day of the rape.

He knows his brother is working out of town and his sister-in-law is going shopping with his wife, Halstead said.

“I guess he was either there, or he wasn’t,” he said. “If he was there, I guess you are to believe (the girl) consented.”

He detailed the girl’s actions and words that he said showed clearly she was not consenting to sex.

Consent is not an issue for the other charge, only that the girl was a student and the defendant was her coach, according to Halstead.

Halstead gave numerous examples of Phelps’ “grooming” the girl for sexual activity.

He also noted that after the April 2 kiss – when she was asked to show her coach the self-inflicted cuts on her thighs – a girl who had never been kissed told the youth pastor’s wife the very next day.

“She needs to express something to someone, but doesn’t want to get the defendant in trouble,” he said.

He pointed out another kiss, which Phelps said was on the forehead, was witnessed by Phelps’ daughter who told two individuals about it but denied it when she took the witness stand.

Halstead admitted the girl played a role in the continued contact between the two, although he blamed Phelps for isolating her from others, leaving him as a lone trusted confidante.

“I think it’s pretty clear she had a crush on him,” he said. “She trusts him, she probably likes the attention, she’s 16.”

Her reliance on her coach was part of why there was little physical evidence showing their conversations via text, according to Halstead.

For example, when she got caught texting him in class, she erased everything, according to Halstead.

“She’s upset, she didn’t want this to get out,” he said. “She deletes all heir texts from her iPod, her mom actually has to go under the stall (in the school bathroom) to grab the iPod.”

Halstead reminded jurors of corroborative testimony and evidence the two continued communicating after he was no longer her coach; through girls who said they acted as go-betweens, and when the teenager gave Phelps her password to him so he could message her using her hotmail account.

Two emails from September submitted as evidence were found inside a special folder called “For my little star” were important, according to the deputy prosecutor.

One was a love song by Mariah Carey called “Without you“, the other a frowning face with the words I’m sorry.

“Who is sorry? What are they sorry for?” Halstead asked.

He pointed out jurors had heard testimony the only individuals with the password were the girl, Phelps and Phelps’ daughter.

“Remember what he said to his co-worker, ‘My life would be over if they found my text messages’, ” Halstead said.

The same co-worker Mark Miller testified Phelps was “obsessed” with the teenager, Halstead reminded the jury.

“Mark warned him, stay away from her Dude, you’re a truck driver, not a shrink,” he said.

Halstead suggested Phelps misled his family, suggesting the girl was in imminent danger of harming herself and nobody was doing anything about it, when actually her family already knew about the cutting and had gotten her counseling.

He related that to a motive Phelps family members may have had to remember facts in a skewed manner when they testified, in particular Annette Phelps when she told what time she last saw he husband on July 27.

“She’s in denial, the reason she’s in denial is she doesn’t have all the information,” he said.

Halstead told the jury the girl told very detailed, consistent stories; that it took courage for her to testify.

“She was cross examined for four and a half hours,” he said. “Consistent. Nothing inconsistent with her story.”

Judge Hunt told the attorneys to return next Thursday when a sentencing date for Phelps would be set.

The second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor conviction is related to an incident that occurred on or about April 2, 2011. It is is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail.

The third-degree rape conviction is related to July 27, 2011. It is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Todd Phelps won’t be testifying in his rape trial, but the jury has heard from his family members they were well aware he was texting the 16-year-old girl and trying to save her life because she was suicidal.

The former Pe Ell High School softball coach is charged with an incident or incidents of kissing and touching the team member before he was forced to resign a year ago. The 52-year-old is also charged with third-degree rape in connection with an encounter the girl described as taking place three months later at his brother’s house in Pe Ell.

The allegation regarding the rape charge is her lack of consent was clearly expressed by her words or conduct.

Phelps’ wife took took the witness stand yesterday, describing the girl as a talented ballplayer with little self worth who sometimes refused to talk.

“She needed encouragement,” Annette Phelps said.

She was virtually a part of their family during the summer of 2010 when they traveled often to softball tournaments, according to the Phelps’ daughter Angelina.

Angelina Phelps, now 20, said she tutored the girl in math.

“She would constantly talk about being ugly, say I cost that game for us, I can’t do this,” Angelina Phelps said.

Last spring their relationship became strained, she testified.

“She’ll wear you out,” Angelina Phelps said. “I mean, she has to have attention constantly.”

They are all residents of the small West Lewis County town of Pe Ell.

A jury of six women and six men are hearing the case in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis.

Because the expected four-day trial has already gone three days over, two jurors with previous commitments have been allowed to step down. The two alternates have stepped in.

Under questioning, Annette Phelps said she knew her husband began texting the teen in late March of last year, and he shared with his wife his dealings with the girl.

Her husband told her about the girl showing him self-inflicted cuts on her thighs she said.

“She said you can’t cry and lifted her shorts,” Annette Phelps said. Her daughter was home when it occurred, she said.

Annette Phelps recalled the girl spending the night once during spring break of last year, and being very upset and crying in the morning. The girl wouldn’t talk with her, she said, only her husband.

The teenager had stopped speaking to her father long before, she said, when he yelled at her about her cutting.

“She wanted to move out, she wanted to be emancipated,” she said. “She would tell us she didn’t even want to be home.”

Annette Phelps said her husband told her the teenager was troubled about a friend who experienced suicide in her life and another who was molested.

She said she told her husband he needed to get a hold of her parents, which he did in on April 9, she testified.

Annette Phelps testified she knew her husband had access to the teen’s hotmail account, but she never heard anything about a separate folder in there called “For my little star”. She also thought their texting ended in mid-April, she said.

In May of last year, she switched phones for her husband to keep the girl from calling, she said. She knew the girls’ parents had blocked the Phelps’ phone numbers from the girl’s phone.

Todd Phelps’ mother took the witness stand as well.

Jean Schmitt testified her son was with her at her Pe Ell home the day of the alleged incident sexual misconduct.

The 72-year-old mother of five boys said it stuck in her mind, because her daughter-in-law’s nephew had been in a very serious accident the day before and been hospitalized.

On April 2 of last year, Schmitt said, her daughter-in-law went Harborview in Seattle and Todd Phelps was with her from about 1 p.m. until 11 p.m., except when he left for five or 10 minutes to go get one of his daughters.

Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead asked Schmitt if she knew why her son was put on leave or why he resigned. She answered that he violated school policy to save the girl’s’ life and quit because it would be better for the girl.

Under questioning, Angelina Phelps confirmed she joined them at her grandmother’s that night.

Angelina Phelps also gave an accounting of her father’s whereabouts on July 27 of last year, the day of the alleged rape.

Her father worked that day she said. He got home about 3:30 p.m. and was still home after she drove to Chehalis in the late afternoon to drop her mother off at Starbucks, she said. He was mowing the grass when she returned and they spent the evening together, Angelina Pheps testified

Her father never goes anywhere alone now, because of this case, she said.

The prosecution originally alleged in charging documents the incident of second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor occurred on April 2, 2011. Last month, after getting new information, they ammended the charging documents to allege the incident occurred sometime between March 25 and April 3.

The teen has testified she may have gotten confused on her” timeline.”

Attorneys on both sides have said jurors won’t see much of the supposed thousands of texts exchanged between Phelps and the teenager, because they were deleted.

Defense attorney Don Blair finished calling witnesses yesterday.

Blair has told the jury he doesn’t know why the girl is saying these things about his client and Phelps at no time thought the relationship was inappropriate.

One or two rebuttal witnesses are expected to take the stand this morning.

Third-degree rape carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. There is no allegation of physical force.

Second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail.

If convicted, Phelps would be required to register as a sex offender.

Phelps remains free on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
•••

For background, read previous stories by scrolling down when on the homepage.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Testimony continued all day on Monday from the now-17-year-old alleged rape victim in the trial of former Pe Ell High School softball coach Todd Phelps, under questioning from Phelps’ attorney.

Centralia lawyer Don Blair didn’t ask about the encounter last July between the two at Phelps’ brother’s house in Pe Ell until after lunchtime and spent only about 30 minutes on the topic.

“One of the things you told us is Todd asked if you wanted to have sex, and you shrugged your shoulders,” Blair said.

“Yes, he didn’t use those words,” the girl answered.

“When your underwear and pants were off, you didn’t say no?” Blair asked.

“I shrugged my shoulders,” the girl replied.

Blair went on to elicit agreement that the teen had previously testified her former coach had once said if they did ever have sex, he would use a towel.

“When you got into the bedroom, there was a towel on the floor,” Blair asked. She agreed that was true.

“How is it you got on the floor?” he asked.

“He picked me up and put me there,” she answered.

“And you didn’t say anything?” Blair asked.

The girl agreed.

The attorney showed her a report from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and asked why Deputy Matt Schlecht wrote that she told him: “I never said no, I never said no.”

The teen said she was talking to the deputy about what occurred on a couch before the two went into the bedroom.

But Schlecht is asking about the time period inside the bedroom, Blair said.

“After the thing started, I never said no,” the girl responded.

She agreed she told a friend it was not rape, saying she thought that because she did not fight and scream.

Some 30 spectators sat in on the trial yesterday that began last week in Lewis County Superior Court, only eight of them sitting in benches behind the defendant.

Many of the witnesses have been asked to remain outside the courtroom by Blair even after they’ve testified, as he may want to recall them to the stand.

Most of the hours of questioning from the defense attorney have involved who she told what and when regarding contact and communications with Phelps beginning in April of last year, as well as about her self-inflicted cutting, conversations about suicide and other topics.

A jury of six women and six men hearing the case were told by the judge they should get to begin deliberating no later than today.

Phelps, 52, is charged with third-degree rape as well as second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor in connection with encounters last spring and summer with the high school student.

The prosecution is arguing Phelps is a man who gradually seduced a girl already troubled with low self esteem and depression. She has testified she’d never even been kissed before a kiss from her coach.

Phelps, a log truck driver, resigned his assistant softball coach position at the end of April 2011 as he was investigated by school officials about “boundary issues” with the girl.

Blair in his opening statements spoke of a coach who became close to the girl because he was worried when he learned she was cutting on herself and thought she might even commit suicide.

Blair has told the jury he doesn’t know why she is saying these things about his client and Phelps at no time thought the relationship was inappropriate.
•••

For background, read:

• “Pe Ell rape trial: Teen testifies about alleged rape” from Saturday April 21, 2012, here