Two Charged in Child Assaults

DAYTON - Walter C. Hartwell, 38, of Dayton, was arrested here Friday and charged with two counts of first degree rape of a child. He is being held in the Co­lumbia County Jail, subject to $100,000 bond. He is scheduled for arraignment on March 6.

Hartwell is accused of initiating sexual contact with his 11-year-old stepdaugh­ter. Reports indicate that the contact may have been occurring for several years.

According to a report released by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, the Sheriff's Office received paperwork from the Wash­ington State Child Protective Services office on October 17, 2013, stating that it had received an anonymous tip alleging that Hartwell had raped his stepdaughter.

The reports said a CPS investigator then contact­ed the stepdaughter at her school and the stepdaughter confirmed the allegations. However, she said Hartwell was no longer living in the home in Dayton, where she, her mother and several sib­lings live.

According to a CPS re­port, "the family has an extensive CPS history and Mr. Hartwell has a founded allegation of physical abuse of the children."

The CPS report also said that when the CPS investiga­tor interviewed the victim's mother, "She stated she and her husband split up and does not believe" the allega­tions of sexual assault. Mrs. Hartwell later stated, how­ever, that she doesn't think her daughter is lying.

Later in October, a medi­cal exam and formal inter­view were set up by CPI for the stepdaughter. The exam confirmed sexual activity. In the interview, which took place in November, the step­daughter described sexual contact by Hartwell going back as early as kindergar­ten.

According to the Sher­iff's report of the interview, "[The stepdaughter] stated he would always do it when mom was gone. The last time, he put a movie on for the other kids and took her to his room." The report indi­cates that the sexual activity was described in detail dur­ing the interview.

Because of malfunction­ing recording equipment, a second formal interview of the stepdaughter had to be conducted in late December. According to the Sheriff's report, the CPS investigator said the stepdaughter had been "consistent in all three interviews" regarding allega­tions of Hartwell's sexual abuse since kindergarten.

In early January, CPS filed a Protection Order in Benton County, giving custody of Mrs. Hartwell's children to their biological father in Richland.

Also in January, Sheriff's deputies interviewed Mrs. Hartwell about the allega­tions of sexual abuse and at­tempted, unsuccessfully, to interview Hartwell and the children's biological father. Reports on the second, suc­cessfully recorded, interview with the stepdaughter were also released in January.

The Sheriff's office report regarding Hartwell's alleged rape of his stepdaughter was filed with the Colum­bia County Superior Court on February 14 and formal charges were filed by the Prosecutor's office on Febru­ary 20. Walter Hartwell was taken into custody the next day.