Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Randle resident Jeffrey S. Plaas pleaded not guilty yesterday to an incident in which deputies found a 16-year-old girl in his garage, her hands bound behind her back with electrical tape.

The teenager told deputies that Plaas, 45, is her boyfriend, that he had thrown her on the ground and would not let her go, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

He is charged with unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault, domestic violence.

His defense attorney suggested yesterday the situation was not as it appeared.

“What we have here is an unfortunate circumstance that arose of out him trying to do good,” Jacob Clark said after the court hearing. “When someone is trying to combat a drug environment …”

Clark declined to say more about exactly what that meant.

The lawyer also said he was aware the girl told deputies his client is her boyfriend but said he wasn’t confirming that.

Charging documents don’t offer many new details about the incident that is alleged to have occurred on Monday in Randle.

They and the sheriff’s office give the following account:

Deputies were called about 3:40 p.m. on Monday about a dispute between a male and a female behind the (Mt.) Adams Cafe in Randle.

They were told the male had slapped the female, the pair were thought to have moved to the area of McKay Street and the suspect male may live in a motor home inside an old bus garage there.

As deputies arrived, they could hear a female screaming and a male shouting. Deputies went into the open garage,  requested the male show himself and he responded with, “I’m over here.”

They asked the sweaty, shirtless man where the female was, and he answered, “What female?”

One deputy went around the back of a pickup truck, and saw a thin female standing against the camper. He asked her to show her hands, she said she couldn’t and turned so the deputy could see they were bound.

The 16-year-old told deputies he had over the previous 24 hours pulled her hair and slapped her; she had swelling on her face, including a bloody nose, sheriff’s Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said after the arrest.

The girl told the deputies Plaas had taped her hands and she did not want him to. She said he was her boyfriend and they lived together “from time to time.”

The teenager said she did want a protection order entered against Plaas.

She declined treatment and was returned to her parents in Ashford, Brown said earlier this week.

When Plaas first appeared in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday, an attorney representing him told the judge Plaas was unemployed, but had lived there eight years. And his only asset was a motor home valued at about $3,000.

Judge James Lawler gave him a court-appointed attorney and set bail at $20,000.

After the Tuesday hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Kjell Werner said there is no law against a person of Plaas’s age having a girlfriend of 16.

The age of consent in Washington is 16, Werner said.

In general, a person 16 or older can have a relationship with someone older than themselves, according to Werner.

One exception is if the older person abuses a supervisory or mentor-type role to engage in an intimate relationship with a person of 16 or 17 years old, according to Werner.

A trial for Plaas is scheduled for the week of Sept. 26.
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Read “Tied up teen rescued from Randle garage” from Tuesday August 9, 2011, here

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

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