By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Chehalis police arrested a 33-year-old man following an investigation that began when a special needs student told a school district employee that he grabbed her hand and put it in his crotch area during a program in which students go to local businesses to learn job skills.
The 20-year-old student allegedly said he’d done it several times before and she was afraid to tell him to stop, according to court documents.
Rodney R. Cook, the shipping manager at Sun Bird Shopping Center in Chehalis, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of indecent liberties, according to temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Police were contacted on June 1 and spoke with a Chehalis School District employee who said the alleged victim told her what happened that day after she returned from Sunbirds, according to court documents.
Police Sgt. Rick McNamara was told the two were working on one side of a table pricing items while her job coach and other students were on the other side, court documents relate.
The documents don’t include any information indicating police interviewed the alleged victim or the suspect.
The school district’s program called Visions works with special needs children. The alleged victim has “a specific” learning disability” and an IQ of 71 or 72, according to court documents.
Cook, who lives in Olympia, was arrested yesterday and booked into the Lewis County Jail.
A judge this afternoon set his bail at $50,000.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello said Cook has a March 2009 conviction in Wyoming for second-degree sexual assault, victim under 12.
His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 25.