An Everett pastor was joined by other religious leaders Thursday in a protest over the way police questioned his son during an investigation of a child molestation case.
The Rev. Paul Stoot of Greater Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in south Everett said he wants the law changed to require parent notification when police question juveniles.
Stoot and others met with reporters at a Redmond church. His son, now 14, was charged in July with one count of first-degree child molestation in Snohomish County Juvenile Court.
Stoot said that his son, then 13, was taken out of a Mukilteo Middle School classroom in January. An Everett police detective questioned him for more than two hours without another adult present, and his parents weren’t notified.
The detective told the school not to contact the boy’s parents, who were only about a block away at the time, Stoot said. School officials said Mukilteo School District policies and state laws were followed.
Under state law, a waiver from parents is required for police to question children under age 12. Those 12 and older are read their constitutional rights and treated as adults.
The method of getting statements from the boy also is an issue in the case. Lawyers argued Thursday over whether incriminating statements from the boy had been coerced.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Castleberry is scheduled to rule today on whether the boy’s statements to police would be allowed as evidence.
The molestation charge stems from summer 2002, when a then 3-year-old girl was staying with the Stoot family. The girl later disclosed that she had been touched improperly.
When Stoot’s son was questioned in January, he at first repeatedly denied improper conduct with the girl, according to charging papers filed by deputy prosecutor John Stansell. Later, he admitted wrongdoing, papers say.
It was not coercion, Stansell said, “and he was clearly capable of understanding his rights.”
Everett police spokesman Sgt. Boyd Bryant said the department does not comment on cases that have been referred to the prosecutor.
In court on Thursday, Stoot lawyer Michael Andrews argued that the statements had been forced and should be suppressed.
At Thursday’s news conference, longtime friend and neighbor Don Hopkins, a Port of Everett commissioner, joined Stoot to vouch for the character of his friend’s son. He also said he will push for a change in the law requiring parental notification before police may question people under age 18.
“I support this young man 110 percent, but I really think I’m concerned for the family and all the other kids in the future who are put in this same situation,” Hopkins said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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