[1]Geffrey A. Duncan talks with temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A second young man has been arrested from a 2012 case in which a 13-year-old girl told police she was taken advantage of by three males at a Centralia party when she was so drunk she could not walk.
Geffrey A. Duncan, 22, went before a judge yesterday afternoon in Lewis County Superior Court, where he is charged with second-degree rape of a child.
The Chehalis resident came to court with his father, having bailed out of jail following his arrest on a $25,000 warrant.
The judge signed a protection order, prohibiting Duncan from contacting the alleged victim.
Temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke indicated to Judge Nelson Hunt her client could have trouble abiding by the order.
“He says he doesn’t know the victim, has no idea who she is,” O’Rourke said. “He’s not sure how to avoid (her).”
Judge Hunt told Duncan he needed to stay at least 1,000 feet from Centralia College, avoiding giving the girl’s address.
Earlier this summer, Centralia police arrested 19-year-old Tyler M. McKee, who was living in Las Vegas. He was charged with the same offense and remains in the Lewis County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
The allegations were investigated in May of 2012, and forensic evidence collected, but the girl only knew the first names of two of the individuals, according to court documents.
Last year, a detective at the Centralia Police Department interviewed a new witness and was given Duncan’s name, and Duncan subsequently recalled being at the party and said he may have kissed her once, according to court documents. He accused two of his friends of having sex with the girl after being told she was only 13, court documents relate.
Duncan’s DNA was excluded from the sample found on her pants.
Court documents in the case relate the girl said she’d never been intoxicated before, but played beer pong and “shot gunned” approximately 10 beers. She told police she remembered both “Tyler” and “Jeff” being on top of her, one after the other. She recalled a third man who came into the room and put his penis in her mouth, according to the court documents.
The new witness reportedly told a detective he tried to get Duncan out of the room but Duncan refused to leave, according to court documents.
O’Rourke told the judge yesterday that Duncan was asking for a court-appointed lawyer, as he didn’t think he could afford to hire someone.
“He makes about $4,000 a month, but he has about $3,000 a month coming out of his pocket,” O’Rourke said, citing bills such as $600 a month truck payment, a $200 a month phone bill, $600 a month obligation for his show dog and payments on haying equipment loans.
Hunt didn’t appoint him a lawyer, but told him to return in two weeks after talking with attorneys about their costs, and tell him again why he can’t afford to hire someone.
His next court hearing is Sept. 29.
•••
For background, read “Suspect in rape of girl at 2012 Centralia party arrested in Vegas” from Monday August 1, 2016, here [2]