Harger: WA’s justice system’s safeguards left an assaulted 5-year-old girl without justice

I don’t see red often.

In more than 20 years of covering news in this city, I’ve trained myself to stay composed. To be fair. To remember there are real people behind every story.

But yesterday, I saw red. A 46-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old homeless girl walked out of King County Jail. Free. Not because anyone wanted him free. Not because anyone thought he should be free. But because the law gave prosecutors no choice.

Let that sink in.

This little girl told officers her pelvic area hurt. She said she was touched by “someone else’s private parts” on two consecutive days. She identified the man. She pointed to his tent. Another resident at Tent City 3 saw him trying to lure her inside and intervened.

The evidence was strong enough for the police to arrest him. Strong enough for a judge to set bail last week at $750,000.

But when Wednesday’s charging deadline arrived, prosecutors faced what they call “inconsistencies in the evidence.” Forensic results weren’t back yet. And the law is crystal clear: If you can’t file charges by the deadline, you must release the suspect.

No exceptions. No extensions. No “but this is a five-year-old girl.”

High burden of proof and its consequences

The prosecutors’ hands were tied. The judge’s hands were tied. Everyone in that courtroom knew what they had to do, even if it made them sick.

These deadlines exist to protect people from being held indefinitely without charges. The high burden of proof exists so we don’t lock up the wrong person. These are good rules. Important rules. Rules that make us a nation of laws. On paper, this sounds good and sounds just.

But this isn’t something abstract. This is a five-year-old girl’s life.

This is the system working exactly as designed. And I’m numb. The kind of numb that comes when anger has nowhere to go.

The prosecutors said they’re “confident in the ongoing investigative work.” They’re “hopeful” the forensic evidence will clear things up. A charging decision is “anticipated” once that information arrives.

Confident. Hopeful. Anticipated. Those are careful words from careful lawyers doing careful work.

But how do you find a homeless man with no address once he disappears? And what comfort do those words offer a five-year-old? Tell me, what do we expect the girl’s mother to say to her tonight? Because that’s the image I can’t shake this morning.

Last night, in a tent somewhere in this city, a mother had to explain to her five-year-old daughter why the man who allegedly hurt her isn’t in jail anymore. She had to find words for why a system that says it believes her, that arrested him, that set massive bail, still had to let him go.

Because the clock ran out.

I understand the system. I understand we need rules, deadlines, and burdens of proof. Without them, innocent people get locked away. I understand all the legal theory, all the reasons why this had to happen exactly the way it did.

And I’m still heartsick.

Because understanding doesn’t protect that little girl. Understanding doesn’t change the fact that our system just told the most vulnerable child in the most vulnerable situation imaginable that her safety matters less than a deadline. I understand prosecutors and the judge didn’t have a choice.

So yes, I understand the system perfectly. And yet, I can’t stop seeing red.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

Follow @https://twitter.com/kirocharlie