Marysville predator who fled to Panama gets 14 years to life
Published 1:30 am Saturday, October 27, 2018
MARYSVILLE — A Marysville child molester who fled to Panama to avoid pleading guilty was sentenced this week to at least 14 years in prison.
James Duchow, 37, could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the long-term sexual abuse of two girls, if a state prison review board finds him unfit for release.
In April 2017, a teen girl told a school counselor that Duchow had been molesting her for years, according to charging papers. It started when she was age 9 or 10. She’d told family about it earlier, but relatives thought she was lying, court papers say. She eventually recanted, and the abuse continued.
She came forward to police again after she witnessed Duchow sexually abusing another girl. She showed police pornographic messages Duchow sent her over Facebook. Marysville police spoke with the second girl. She reported Duchow had molested her for about a year, starting when she was a preteen.
Duchow posted $100,000 bond in May 2017, with financial help from his wife. He showed up to many court hearings over the next 10 months.
Court papers show prosecutors were working out a deal to make him eligible for a special sex offender sentencing alternative, reducing his prison time if he agreed to undergo years of treatment. But on his plea date, Duchow didn’t show up to a hearing. His wife learned he’d gone to Wisconsin. She gave attorneys an email from Duchow, where he spelled out why he’d decided to run from the law.
“Even if I do go to trail an (sic) there is a hung jury, the prosecutor can still set a new trial date, an continue to press forward until one of the accusations stick,” he wrote. “Then I’m looking at 5 years in prison, and life on probation. THAT is not a life. I would rather hide a free man, than to be labeled a sex offender for the rest of my natural life.”
The email was sent March 9. Later, police learned from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that two days earlier, Duchow had flown from Chicago to Panama. A judge ordered a $500,000 warrant for his arrest. His face ran on Washington’s Most Wanted.
Panamanian police and U.S. Marshals tracked down Duchow in late May. Days later he arrived back in the United States. Duchow pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child, first-degree child molestation and bail jumping in August. Other than driving offenses, he had no criminal record.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Janice Ellis handed down the sentence Wednesday. For the rest of Duchow’s life, he must register as a sex offender, have no contact with the girls and remain under the watch of a probation officer, if he’s ever released from prison.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
