Tacoma man pleads guilty to sex crime. He attacked woman he met online at local park
A man who was accused of making a date with a woman online and then raping her at a Tacoma park has been convicted and sentenced.
Adrian Zazueta Jr., 25, pleaded guilty in October to one count of indecent liberties in the Feb. 29, 2020, incident at Wapato Park. Zazueta maintained his innocence but agreed to plead guilty to take advantage of an offer by prosecutors to reduce his second-degree rape charge and dismiss another case where he was accused of rape, court records show.
On Dec. 9, Superior Court Judge Grant Blinn sentenced Zazueta to 17.5 months in state prison. The defendant will be required to register as a sex offender upon release, court records show.
According to charging documents, the victim told police she’d met Zazueta through an online app and agreed to meet him at the park. Once there, they went for a walk, and he raped her, court records show.
Zazueta was charged in a similar attack on a 17-year-old girl Jan. 23, 2020, court records show. Police said that incident happened in the 900 block of South J Street downtown. That case was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Zazueta allegedly denied knowing the victims and later said “they were both consensual,” court records show.
He has a prior conviction of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation. In that case he was accused of sex with a 13-year-old girl when he was 17, according to court records.
