2 sentenced in connection to disappearance of Bonney Lake teenager in 2018
Two people were sentenced Thursday in connection to the disappearance of a Bonney Lake teenager in 2018.
The 15-year-old’s mother reported her missing May 9, 2018, and the girl was found safe at a Puyallup bus stop the next month.
Christopher Russell Fitzpatrick, 41, pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping, attempted promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to a person under 18, two counts of third-degree rape of a child and second-degree possession of child pornography.
Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend sentenced him to 21 years, three months in prison for that case and another in which he pleaded guilty to escape from community custody and failure to register as a sex offender.
The sentence was what the state and defense recommended.
Fitzpatrick’s plea statement said in part he met the girl after she ran away from home, and that he and 31-year-old Maria Counts posted ads online that offered the teenager for sex in exchange for money.
Counts pleaded guilty to attempted promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor.
Arend sentenced her to more than seven years, which also was what the state and defense recommended.
Defense attorney Bryan Hershman told the court about severe trauma Counts suffered as a child and young adult. He said she started using drugs and alcohol at a young age and that going to jail saved her life.
She has developed empathy, Hershman said, and feels terrible for the part she played in the case.
Counts herself said she is “extremely sorry” and that what transpired “never should have happened to a child.”
She told the court she wants any help that she can get, in terms of treatment and therapy.
“I’m not a bad person,” she said.
Defense attorney Joseph Evans told the court that Fitzpatrick is sorry for what happened. He said his client had a drug problem as well, and that there was past trauma in his life that Fitzpatrick did not want to go into at the sentencing.
“He understands the consequences of his behavior,” Evans said. “... He is taking responsibility.”
When it was Fitzpatrick’s turn to speak, he said, “I’m sorry for any pain that this might have caused to you and your family.”
Arend said in such cases there seems to be a pattern of defendants who have suffered tragic circumstances and have grown up to victimize others.
As a society, she said, we “need to find a way to protect our children.”
Before handing down the sentence, Arend said, “I do believe that, as long as you’re still on this earth, you can make a choice about what your life looks like going forward.”
Also charged in the case were 30-year-old Nicholas David Biancalana and 36-year-old William Kent Pittman, who both pleaded guilty to third-degree rape of a child.
Biancalana was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison in 2018, and Pittman to a year and three months.
