MONROE — A King County judge sentenced a former Monroe High School psychologist last week for texting who he believed were minors and trying to have sex with them.
In June 2021, Lance Egli, 51, started talking to a user on a dating application whose age was listed as 19. She repeatedly told him she was actually 14. But the account wasn’t a 14-year-old girl — it was a Redmond police detective who used age-adjusted photos of herself to make her look like a teenager. Egli later texted similar messages to another detective who was posing as a 15-year-old girl.
King County Superior Court Judge Dave Keenan gave Lance Egli three months in jail on July 14.
Egli was a psychologist at the high school since 2004, and was also the special education coordinator.
The school district did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Egli repeatedly said he wanted to engage in sexual acts with the two fake girls, according to court documents.
The school district placed Egli on administrative leave while he faced the allegations. He was not allowed to go on school property, participate in district events or have contact with students.
The former psychologist used the name “Ray,” meeting one of the “girls” on the dating app MeetMe, according to court records. The conversation moved to Kik, an instant-messaging platform.
The Redmond detective wrote it was apparent that “Ray was interested in a romantic and sexual relationship” with the 14-year-old, despite knowing her age. He asked to meet her several times and said they should date. According to court documents, Egli told he he could pick her up after school.
Some of the communication occurred during school hours, according to court records.
Another Redmond officer made a fake account on a dating app in August 2021. Egli messaged the user who was pretending to be 15, prosecutors wrote.
Egli wrote that he wanted to meet the second user, saying he wanted them to be “lovers.” He confirmed he was OK with her being 15.
The defendant sent the user, named “Ella,” a selfie that showed a man wearing a surgical mask inside a vehicle. With assistance from the state Department of Health, detectives used the pictures on his dating profile to identify Egli, according to court documents.
“This is extremely concerning due to Egli’s employment,” police wrote in their report.
In October 2021, Redmond police traced the phone Egli used to send messages to his house near Snohomish and arrested him.
Egli pleaded guilty last month to two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. Court papers say prosecutors asked for a suspended jail sentence, too.
During an interview with a psychologist, Egli acknowledged engaging in sexual texting “a lot through the pandemic,” according to court papers.
“I didn’t think those profiles were real,” he reportedly said.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @EDHJonTall.
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