An Everett woman who allegedly lived as a teenage boy and molested an underage girl pleaded not guilty Friday.
Lorelei J. Corpuz, 30, entered the plea during a brief afternoon hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court.
A few hours earlier, prosecutors charged Corpuz with one count of third-degree child molestation, a felony.
Corpuz’s case has piqued international interest. In court papers filed earlier, Corpuz was described as allegedly having posed as the boyfriend of a teenage Everett girl and adopting the identity Mark Villanueva, 17.
Aside from listing Corpuz’s alias as Mark Villanueva, supposedly 22, deputy prosecutor Mark Roe made no other direct references in charging papers to Corpuz’s alleged claims to be male.
That was deliberate, Roe said.
“From what I understand, there has been a completely out of proportion amount of hoopla surrounding the ‘gender’ issues in this case,” the prosecutor said. “They are irrelevant. So why write about them in my affidavit of probable cause?”
The court papers filed by Roe recount much of what already has been reported about the case, but with minor differences.
Corpuz met the girl in September 2005 at an area mall and lived with the teen’s family off and on through April, Roe wrote.
The alleged illegal sexual contact came to light after a traffic stop in Everett led to Corpuz’s arrest on a warrant. The Everett girl, who is 16 (not 14, as originally reported by police), was in the car. The girl’s parents, immigrants from Vietnam who speak little English, have said they had no idea the person they knew as “Mark” was actually a 30-year-old woman.
Police investigated because of the age difference between Corpuz and the girl, Roe wrote. Corpuz denied improper sex. The girl told police there was sexual touching that started when she was 15.
“As (Corpuz) told a detective after her arrest: ‘I am still exploring whether or not I should become a lesbian,’” Roe said in court papers. “The defendant allegedly conducted that exploration with a 15-year-old, and the defendant is more than 48 months older than that 15-year-old, which makes such conduct a crime.”
In court Friday, Corpuz identified herself by her given name. Through her attorney, she did not contest the $150,000 bail that was previously set in her case. She remained behind bars at the county jail in Everett.
Roe said high bail is justified because Corpuz is being investigated for numerous thefts and frauds in Snohomish County, as well as for another relationship involving a young girl elsewhere. Kitsap County officials have previously acknowledged they’ve opened an investigation there.
“The defendant had assumed a fictitious identity of a 17-year- old, even opening a bank account under a fictitious name, and writing bad checks on that account,” Roe said in court documents. “The financial crimes are being investigated separately, and charges for those may follow.”
The prosecutor said Corpuz also claims to be homeless, had no job when arrested and “was apparently getting by on passing bad checks” and money sent to her from her mother.
Superior Court Judge David Kurtz scheduled Corpuz’s trial for June 1.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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