Tacoma man drugs 11-year-old, propositions her for sex, police say

A Tacoma man drugged an 11-year-old girl staying at his home and propositioned her for sex over the weekend, Pierce County prosecutors allege.

The 34-year-old was charged Monday in Superior Court with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. Deputy prosecutor Scott Peters noted in charging documents that further charges were pending.

Judge Michael Schwartz set the man’s bail at $100,000 and ordered him to not contact the girl.

According to prosecutors:

The girl’s grandmother called police Sunday and said the girl had spent the previous night at the home of one of her friends.

The girl texted her grandmother to say her friend’s father had put something in her drink and that she felt funny. The grandmother took the girl to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, where a blood test came back positive for amphetamines.

The girl told police the man had made her a “special drink” during the night and insisted she finish it. She said it didn’t taste right and that something was undissolved at the bottom of the cup.

Later that day, the man gave her a note and said he wanted to talk with her but only after his own wife and daughter were asleep.

The man later asked the girl if she wanted to have sex, but she said no because she was too young. She said she stayed up all night and texted her grandmother in the morning.

Police then met with the man, who denied talking to the girl about sex. He said he knew she was 11. He denied drugging her but said he’d made a drink with orange juice and candy.

He also said he’d been clean from methamphetamine for a month, court records show.

When corrections deputies at the jail strip-searched the man as part of the admissions process, he told them he had brought some meth with him. A bag with the drug inside was later recovered, court records show.

This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 5:25 PM.