Pacific County fire chief charged with 37 counts of child sex crimes

A Pacific County fire chief was charged last week with 37 counts of child sex crimes that involved four boys between the ages of two and eight.

Officers alleged that an Ilwaco volunteer Fire Chief, Jeffery Archer, raped and or molested the boys at his home in Ocean Park as he was babysitting them between 2013 and 2019, according to court documents obtained by The Seattle Times.

Pacific County fire chief booked on first-degree child rape charges

Pacific County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Archer on Jan. 9, and he was booked into Pacific County Jail on counts that included first-degree child rape and molestation.

Archer served as a part-time fire chief in 2021 and was later hired as a full-time chief in November 2023. Court records did not reveal a criminal history prior to Archer’s arrest.

“The city will continue to monitor the investigation by the Pacific County sheriff’s office and respond appropriately as the matter is resolved,” Holly Beller told The Seattle Times. “The city of Ilwaco and the Ilwaco Fire Department are deeply committed to protecting the citizens of Ilwaco in the meantime.”

One of the victims told law enforcement that in 2019, he was sexually abused by Archer every weekend for five months.

Additionally, the boy said that he and another boy were abused by Archer at the same time in his Ocean Park home.

Archer is also allegedly engaged in an “intimate relationship” with one of the victims, who is now 18, according to court documents obtained by The Seattle Times.

Archer has been put on administrative leave and will be temporarily replaced by an interim fire chief until further notice.

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