Travis Martin Lear was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for first-degree child molestation.
The verdict was announced in King County Superior Court by Judge Chad Allred.
The 26-year-old Enumclaw resident molested an 11-year-old girl in the bathroom of the Enumclaw Library the afternoon of Jan. 30, 2013.
Lear had twice been convicted of sex crimes prior to the incident at the library. He was also registered as a level 1 sex offender.
Lear was represented by Edwin Aralica at the felony sentencing hearing Friday; Angela Kaake was the deputy prosecuting attorney.
According to court documents, Lear was sentenced to 300 months (25 years) and maximum of life. The court also sentenced him to community custody for life.
Lear was ordered to pay restitution, an amount to be set by the court following a hearing. He was also ordered to pay $1,495.81 in attorney fees and $230 in court costs.
Lear was ordered to complete a sexual deviancy program while in prison.
Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in an email, “A jury convicted the defendant, Travis M. Lear, last month of Child Molestation in the First Degree as charged. Because the jury also reached a finding that the sexual assault was a predatory offense, the defendant faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. After Lear, 26, serves a minimum of 25 years, he could also face a potential maximum sentence of up to life in prison. A parole board has the ability to keep an inmate in prison up to life for convictions on certain sex offenses.”
According to information from an Enumclaw Police Department Det. Sgt Mark Leitl and a probable cause document, the library incident unfolded like this.
Lear’s 11-year-old victim and her father were visiting the library. She eventually headed to the parking lot, got into their car and was having a snack. A man approached the vehicle and ordered the girl to walk to the library bathroom, threatening to kill her if she didn’t follow his orders. Fearing for her safety, the young victim complied.
The stranger, later identified as Lear, followed the girl into the bathroom and locked the door. He kissed her and molested her before becoming apologetic. The suspect said he didn’t like what he was doing but couldn’t control his “urges.” He told the victim she could leave, but not before issuing another warning: if she told anyone what happened, he said, he would kill her.
The victim ran from the building and located her father, who had been searching for her. She told her father what had happened and pointed to Lear as he was walking from the library building. The victim’s father confronted the suspect, who first denied the incident occurred and then stated he had been helping the girl find her abductor. The suspect eventually fled, heading toward Cole Street. The arrest report showed Lear was residing at a downtown hotel not far from the library.
The father called 911 and reported the incident. Soon, he and the victim were meeting with police, describing the suspect. The detective working the case realized Lear had been in the police station an hour earlier, meeting with a Department of Corrections officer.
Lear had been meeting with the correction’s officer due to his status as a registered sex offender. He had previous convictions for third-degree rape of a child and third-degree attempted rape of a child. During that meeting, Lear had asked permission to visit the library, a request that was denied. Surveillance video of the police station lobby verified Lear was at the station and was also used to assist with the positive identification.
Lear was found at his mother’s Enumclaw home and arrested without incident.
