Kent boy, 14, receives 8 years to life prison sentence for rape of 8-year-old girl

A 14-year-old Kent boy received a prison sentence of eight years and could serve a life sentence for the first-degree rape of an 8-year-old girl last November in a wooded area near a Kent hotel.

A 14-year-old Kent boy received a prison sentence of eight years and could serve a life sentence for the first-degree rape of an 8-year-old girl last November in a wooded area near a Kent hotel.

King County Superior Court Judge Bill Bowman sentenced Harrell on Friday at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Because first-degree rape is a violent sex crime, Bowman sentenced Harrell to an indeterminate sentence. That means that after Harrell serves eight years, the state Indeterminate Sentence Review Board can add up to five years at a time to his sentence to a maximum of life.

Harrell will be transferred to an adult prison at the age of 21 after he serves time in a juvenile-detention facility. Harrell also must enter and complete a state program for sexual deviancy. If released from prison, he must register as a sex offender and have no contact with the girl. He also must have no contact with any minor without supervision of a responsible adult aware of his conviction.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Prosecutors received a court order to charge Harrell as an adult because of the seriousness of the alleged offense committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated and willful manner, according to charging papers. Prosecutors needed the special ruling because of Harrell’s young age. Under Washington state law, an offender who commits a serious violent offense is automatically charged in adult court if they are 16 or 17 years old when the alleged crime occurred.

Harrell pleaded guilty in June to first-degree rape.

Kent Police arrested the teen Nov. 7 for investigation of first-degree rape after an 8-year-old girl on Nov. 7 entered the Red Lion Hotel, 25100 74th Ave. S., wearing only a shirt and socks and told hotel employees she had been raped. The girl had a swollen face and scratches on her arms and legs, according to charging papers.

The girl told police she walked with Harrell toward the Shell gas station before they went into a wooded area where he hurt her. When an officer asked her what part of the body the boy touched she replied, “Everything.” She said he struck her in the head multiple times. She said she had seen Harrell a couple of times in recent weeks with her brother.

According to charging papers, Harrell admitted to police he had sex with the girl. Police arrested the boy at a home in a neighborhood near the hotel.

Harrell told police he saw the girl and two other girls exit a school bus. He asked the girl if he could walk with her to her house to see if her brother was home. The brother was not home. The teen told police the girl asked him if he wanted to walk to the store and asked him if he wanted to have sex.

The boy told the girl he wanted to have sex and they found a spot in the bushes just south of the gas station. Harrell admitted to police he hit the girl twice in the face because she said she would call the police.

While Harrell is almost 6 feet tall and weighs 230 pounds, the girl is about 4 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds.

During his interview with police, Harrell said he first had sex at age 10 and estimated he has had sex with about 30 girls, most of them older than him, according to charging papers.

Prior to the rape, Harrell attended Kent-Meridian High School before dropping out.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Cars drive northbound through the intersection of Southeast 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast in Fairwood. An 18-year-old was driving over 100 mph southbound through this intersection on March 19, 2024 when his car hit a minivan, resulting in the deaths of one woman and three minors. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Kent man who killed four in Renton crash pleads guilty to all charges

Chase Jones faces up to 23 and a half years in prison. His sentencing is set for April 25.

File Photo
Kent City Council approves Stay Out of Drug Areas zone

Nine organizations signed letter opposing new ordinance as ‘not an effective option’

t
Slower is safer: Steps to increase traffic safety in South King County

11-mile corridor has a high number of collisions, many of them fatal.

t
Family starts GoFundMe page for Kent man killed in crash

Jose Ortiz, 55, died in March 28 collision; wife suffered serious injuries; police arrest driver of 2nd vehicle

Courtesy Photo, City of Kent Parks
Kent city leaders want bigger piece of county Parks Levy

Measure could go to voters in August; King County Council to consider levy this month

King County Correctional Facility in Seattle. COURTESY PHOTO, King County
Man, 22, gets 20-year prison sentence for 2022 Kent killing

Drive-by shooting outside bar on Central Avenue took the life of 29-year-old Kent man

File Photo
Kent Police arrest man, 22, for arson, assaults against girlfriend

Allegedly set apartment on fire and repeatedly beat 19-year-old woman

t
Kent man, 56, dies in two-vehicle crash March 28 in Kent

Police arrest woman for investigation of vehicular homicide; collision at 94th Ave. S./S. 240th St.

File Photo, Kent Reporter
6-year-old boy drowns in pond on Kent’s East Hill

Child reportedly had autism and was drawn to the water on March 25, according to police

Valley Medical Center in Renton. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Layoffs at Valley Medical Center stem from loss of funding

101 nonunion employees were fired March 25 from Renton hospital that also serves Kent.

t
FBI honors teen girls who helped stop abduction in Kent

They rescued 6-year-old girl from man in July 2024 in parking lot of apartment complex

t
Kent Police Blotter: March 11-23

Incidents include naked female, robbery with a syringe, assault, harassment