TACOMA — A 47-year-old Lacey woman was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping her 8-year-old daughter, adopted from China.
Donna Marie Whisenhunt pleaded guilty to child rape as part of a plea deal and was sentenced Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma.
Her husband, 51-year-old Eddy Tony Whisenhunt, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to 18 years in prison.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reports the couple were arrested in May after their daughter talked to a school counselor.
She had been adopted shortly after her birth in China, and police said the abuse occurred over a four-year period.
Deputy Prosecutor John Skinder says Child Protective Services placed the girl in a new home where she is thriving.
Seattle: Gun ban called constitutional
A federal judge has ruled that Seattle’s ban on firearms in city parks and community centers is constitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that the city of Seattle was within its rights to enact the gun ban.
Pechman says the Second Amendment constrains the actions of Congress, not cities and states.
Pechman’s decision follows a King County Superior Court ruling last week that came to the opposite conclusion, saying the city rule cannot be enforced.
A Kent man challenged the city’s firearms ban by carrying a weapon into the Southwest Community Center last year. He was asked to leave. There are no criminal or other penalties under the city’s gun ban.
Oregon: 5 more sea lions killed at dam
Wildlife officials have killed five more sea lions at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River as part of the campaign to protect salmon.
So far this season, a total of six sea lions on a list of 64 have been euthanized.
With the spring salmon run ready to get under way, it’s possible that many more sea lions will show up at the dam in search of food and end up being captured and then killed by lethal injection.
Federal officials say they’ve had no luck finding homes for the animals they’ve captured this year.
Associated Press
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