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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A judge has dismissed a charge of second-degree rape of a child against a Chehalis man in a case in which a 13-year-old girl told police she was taken advantage of by three males at a Centralia party when she was so drunk she could not walk.
Geffrey A. Duncan, 22, was charged in September in Lewis County Superior Court in connection with the events reported in 2012. He pleaded not guilty.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm said she’s been unable to contact the alleged victim. The state’s motion to dismiss Duncan’s case without prejudice was granted yesterday, she said.
The allegations were investigated in May of 2012, and forensic evidence collected, but the girl only knew the first names of two of the individuals, according to court documents. An interview with a new witness led to two arrests last year.
Tyler M. McKee, 22, formerly of Chehalis, entered into a plea deal in November and was sentenced to 41 months in prison for two counts of second-degree child molestation.
Prosecutors alleged in charging documents that McKee’s DNA profile matched material collected from the girl’s pants. Duncan’s DNA was excluded from the sample found on the garment, according to prosecutors.
Dismissed without prejudice means the state can file the charge again later, Bohm said.
Two other sexual assault cases from late last year ended the same way in recent days in Lewis County Superior Court.
Bohm said the requests came about after further interviewing of the alleged victims and review of the files and deciding the cases could not go forward.
On Monday, a charge of second-degree rape was dismissed for Juvencio E. Ayala Rodriguez, a 23-year-old Centralia resident. He was charged in November following an investigation that began in April when a 16-year-old girl reported he forced himself on her a few nights earlier when she and a friend met two guys at Schaeffer Park.
Last week, on Thursday, a charge of second-degree rape was dismissed for 19-year-old Santiago L. Fernando of Chehalis. He too was charged in November following an investigation that began with a pregnant 17-year-old girl’s mother calling the Chehalis Police Department.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I have been telling everyone all along that Geff Duncan was innocent and no one believed me. I guess this just proves my point. I grew up with Geff he is a truly wonderful person and would never do anything like that. Glad to see that it was dismissed.
Solid work LCSO and prosecutors office.