Granite Falls man charged in sexual assault of postal carrier

GRANITE FALLS -- A Granite Falls man has been accused of sexually assaulting a postal carrier while she was delivering his mail.

Gary Balmert Jr., 32, was charged Wednesday in Snohomish County Superior Court with third-degree rape.

Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Halley Hupp alleges that Balmert assaulted the woman Sept. 24 after she came to his home to deliver a certified letter.

The woman, 32, told police that she gave Balmert the letter and was walking back to her vehicle when he asked her to return. She told investigators she thought he wanted to continue their conversation about dogs, Hupp wrote in court papers.

The woman said she stepped inside the Balmert's house and he quickly blocked her exit, grabbed her arms and assaulted her, according to court documents.

She told investigators she escaped after telling Balmert she had a disease.

Balmert told police he and the woman had flirted on different occasions. He told investigators the sexual contact with the woman was consensual, Hupp wrote in the charging papers.