COULEE DAM, Wash. – Kittitas County deputies arrested a teacher at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School in Coulee Dam on probable cause for communication with a minor for immoral purposes, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff.
The 42-year-old teacher was arrested as a result of an ongoing investigation from the Washington taskforce on Internet-facilitated Crimes Against Children.
During the investigation, the teacher sent an electronic communication to a person posing as a minor who was actually a Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office detective, according to Kittitas County inspector Chris Whitsett.
The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office worked alongside Coulee Dam police officers to arrest the teacher, who they took into custody on October 13. The teacher was arrested while at school, where they were doing administrative work during a school holiday, according to the office.
The teacher was brought to Ellensburg and booked into the Kittitas County Jail.
The teacher will face trial in Kittitas County because the crime they will be charged for, “Communication with a minor for immoral purposes,” happens both in the place where the suspect does the communicating and in the place where the intended victim receives the communication.
“Protecting children has long been a top priority for law enforcement in our community, and we will continue to use our abilities and resources to pursue anyone who would harm kids, wherever and whoever they are,” said Kittitas County Sheriff Clay Myers in a post about the arrest.
The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office asked for anyone with information relevant to the case to call Kittcom at (509)-925-8534 and refer to case S25-14609.
