PDF: Shoreline Rape Suspect Charged; Bail Raised to $1 Million for Man Who Threatened to Kill Girl

The King County Prosecutor's Office charged Jesse Ryan Gonzales, 37, of Shoreline with first degree rape and first degree burglary with sexual motivation today in King County Superior Court.

Gonzales, also known as Jesse R. Guerten, is accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in an apartment in the 20000 block of Whitman Ave. N. in the Echo Lake neighborhood of Shoreline early last Sunday. Gonzales, a steel worker who lived in a rental home in 20200 block of Whitman Ave. N., threatened to kill the girl before he raped her, according to prosecutors.  He has five felony and 13 misdemeanor convictions dating back to the 1990s.

Bail was originally set at $500,000 but prosecutors requested that to be raised to $1 million today because of he is, "an extreme danger to the community and to the victim and her family," prosecutor Carol Spoor, wrote. The request was granted.

Gonzales was linked to the sexual assault through a palm print he left on a dresser in the victim's bedroom, according to police. Advances in print technology helped King County Sheriff's detectives quickly identify him as a suspect in the sexual assault. 

He was arrested in the 19000 block of Meridian Ave. N. about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday during a traffic stop.

He told police he had consumed 12 beers and a synthetic drug, and admitted to the rape, according to the detective's statement.

See the attached PDF for the charging documents from the prosecutor's office and the statement of probable cause from the. Some of the more graphic details are redacted as are possible identifiers of the victim and her family.

Prosecutors have also filed notice of a special allegation that provides for a longer sentence if a sexual assault involves a burglary and rape and the victim was under the age of 15.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said that if a jury finds the allegation to be proven, it triggers a mandatory 25-year sentence. It is the second time King County prosecutors will be using the special allegation upon conviction since the law went into effect in 2006. 

Gonzales also faces an additional two years for the sexual motivation enhancement on the burglary charge. If convicted as charged, the defendant would face a minimum of 27 years up to a potential maximum sentence of life in prison. After he serves the 27 years, a parole board has the ability to keep an inmate in prison up to life for convictions on certain sex offenses. 

"A person who would break into a home and rape a 12-year-old child has forfeited his right to live in a free society," Satterberg said. "There can be no mitigating circumstances, there should only be a prison cell and a life sentence."

Gonzales will be arraigned on December 22 at 8:30 a.m. at the King County Courthouse, courtroom 1201. 

Sources: King County Sheriff's Office and King County Prosecutor's Office.