Man sentenced to 8 years for molestations at day care

Published 9:00 pm Friday, April 21, 2006

A man who used his stepmother’s unlicensed day care center to sexually abuse children in the 1990s was sentenced to 81/2 years in prison after a judge found him guilty of two counts of first-degree child rape on Friday.

Christopher Lee Cearfoss, 27, of Everett apologized to a now 15-year-old girl who was the victim in both counts.

The girl told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese that the assaults cost her emotionally, and now they are costing her family financially as they pay for counseling and other expenses.

“I really regret I set foot into that day care,” she said.

In the end, however, she told Cearfoss: “I forgive you.”

Prosecutors said Cearfoss repeatedly abused the girl between 1996 and 1999. Deputy prosecutor Diane Nipert said Cearfoss admitted to investigators that there were as many as five more victims, although no one else has come forward.

Cearfoss’ stepmother operated the day care out of her homes during those years, first in Everett and then in the Clearview area. She was the primary caregiver, but from time to time she ran errands and left her stepson to watch the children, court documents said.

The prison sentence came despite a bid by Everett defense attorney Mickey Krom to get Cearfoss treatment instead of a long prison sentence.

Under a special sentencing alternative for nonviolent first offenders, defendants sometimes can commit to a short jail sentence and enter treatment. If they fail to comply with treatment requirements, they go to prison.

“This is a heartbreaking case for everyone involved,” Krom said.

Cearfoss had a difficult childhood, is “mentally younger” than others his age and had a difficult time in school, Krom said. Since the day care incidents, there have been no other sexual attacks, he told the judge.

Because the girl had trouble remembering exact dates, the years of the assaults were not certain. Krom said Cearfoss could have been as young as 14 or as old as 19 at the time.

Nipert said she “strenuously opposes” community treatment instead of prison. There’s no proof there haven’t been other offenses since the day care rapes, she said.

Krese told Cearfoss he knew what he did was wrong, no matter what his age at the time. Cearfoss also threatened the victim if she told anyone about the assaults, the judge noted.

As for his hard life, Krese said “other people suffer difficulties in their lives without victimizing children.”

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.