MUKILTEO — Nearly five months after he was fired from the Mukilteo School District, a former paraeduator was charged Tuesday with sexually abusing a student during the 2022 school year.
Julian Willis, 34, faces three counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. The defendant was placed on leave in early April after a staff member alerted school leadership of misconduct with a Kamiak student, district spokesperson Diane Bradford said.
An investigation led to the district firing Willis in late May.
Mukilteo police arrested Willis a month later. Jail records suggest he posted bail the next day, hours after appearing before an Everett District Court judge.
The school district hired Willis in September 2022 at Kamiak and Mariner high schools as an assistant football coach and emergency substitute teacher. Willis preyed on a 17-year-old student for five months during the school year, according to the charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court
In November, the former assistant coach met the student when she began working with the football team. Willis would flirt with her at practice, according to a search warrant. The comments reportedly became more inappropriate over time.
“What I want to do would get us in alot of trouble,” he reportedly told the student.
Eventually, Willis met with the student and sexually abused her in a rental property he managed, according to charging papers. A listing agent for the unit reportedly told investigators the defendant entered the residence that day without an appointment.
Two other encounters occurred in portable classrooms on campus when Willis worked as a substitute teacher, prosecutors allege. Willis reportedly stopped by her classes and “nudged” her to meet him in a portable, the charges say. Another time, Willis texted her to meet in another portable.
Detectives filed search warrants, in part, to collect DNA evidence left on the carpet of the portables. The Washington State Patrol crime laboratory concluded “very strong support for the inclusion of Julian Willis as a possible contributor,” the charges say.
On March 31, an assistant football coach reported the suspected misconduct to school leadership, according to police.
On the same day as the report, three students told staff Willis may have been recording them with his phone during their yoga class, according to police records.
Willis had a popular TikTok account with his wife, revolving around their real estate business. The account has been deleted.
On Wednesday, Willis remained out of custody.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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