EVERETT — Former Anchor Pub owner Christian Sayre has posted $1 million bond and been released from the Snohomish County Jail, as he awaits trial on 22 felony sex charges.
It’s the fourth time in the past nine months that the longtime bar owner has bailed out.
In the meantime, the number of charges against him has grown.
Sayre, of Everett, owned the historic bar on Hewitt Avenue for six years before he was arrested in October 2021 for investigation of two counts of second-degree rape and one count of indecent liberties. Over the following months, dozens of other people reported they’d been sexually assaulted by Sayre in the past 20 years.
An investigation turned up victims who reported in recent years that they went to the bar in the 1000 block of Hewitt, “where they only had a few drinks but had no recollection of what occurred afterward,” according to the Everett Police Department. “Upon waking up, the victims believed they had been sexually assaulted.”
In January, the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office charged Sayre with 10 counts of sex offenses.
After hearing defense arguments about why Sayre wasn’t a flight risk, Superior Court Judge Edirin Okoloko lowered his bail from $1 million to $700,000 in February. He posted that amount. In April, Judge Millie Judge reinstated the $1 million bail at a court hearing, because more charges had been filed in the case. Sayre was arrested April 6 and remained in custody until he posted bond Thursday night.
Meanwhile, further investigation increased the number of charges to 22 felonies — 16 in Snohomish County and eight in Washington County, Oregon.
An Island County woman, who said she’s a survivor of Sayre’s abuse, told The Daily Herald she was alarmed that he was released from custody again. Her ability to get out of bed and take care of her kids has taken a hit each time Sayre has bailed out of jail.
“There are so many people he’s harmed,” she said. “So many of us have gotten calls that he was bailing out of jail. The justice system is failing us.”
The woman went to the Anchor with her mother and a friend one night in 2016 to watch live music. She began talking with a group at the bar. Sayre was there, and he reportedly bought her shots and drinks. He told the bartender to “make sure her drink was never empty,” charging papers say. She began to feel disoriented. Later, she came to believe she’d been drugged.
Most of the memories she retained are violent, she said: Sayre smashing her face into a brick wall. She said she veered in and out of consciousness as he sexually assaulted her in his home. Years have passed, and the trauma of that night still haunts her. She barely ever takes the ferry to the mainland.
“I’m in therapy twice a week now,” she said. “I got to do what I got to do to try and stay level-headed for my kids.”
In an email, Sayre’s defense attorney Laura Shaver said the Constitution requires that a person is entitled to release on bail unless they have been proven guilty.
“All too often, a person’s entire life is turned upside down based on an accusation and we must remember that an accusation is not a conviction,” Shaver said. “We look forward to addressing the accusations made against Mr. Sayre at trial.”
Sayre’s next court appearance is scheduled for September.
The Daily Herald plans to follow developments in these cases. If you have a story to share related to the investigation, please contact reporter Ellen Dennis at 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
