SNOHOMISH — Two more young women have come forward to accuse the owner of a downtown Snohomish brewery of sexual misconduct, according to new charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
In August 2022, prosecutors initially charged Sandoval, the owner of SnoTown Brewery, with second-degree child molestation, a felony. He allegedly inappropriately touched a preteen girl over the course of a year. The girl and her family had been customers, and she had done some work at the brewery, canning beer.
Last week, Snohomish County prosecutors added another count of second-degree child molestation and two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. All of the felony allegations were related to the same victim. The new charges, however, allege Sandoval’s inappropriate behavior toward teen girls stretched back at least to 2009.
Deputy prosecutor Julia Hartnell declined to comment on the case Monday.
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“It is not unusual for prosecutors to stack charges just prior to trial,” Sandoval’s attorney, Laura Shaver said. “It is one way to persuade, or force, a defendant to plead guilty because pleading guilty to one charge you are innocent of has less risk and consequence than going to trial on stacked charges.”
After reading about the initial charges in The Daily Herald, a woman reached out to Snohomish police. In an interview, she also described being touched inappropriately by Sandoval as a teen, according to the charges.
The woman met Sandoval through her father, who worked with him, court documents said.
The defendant began giving her music lessons at his home. Sandoval used love songs to justify dancing with her during lessons, the charges say.
On a camping trip in 2009, Sandoval started kissing her on the mouth, according to court papers. She also reported Sandoval would pull her onto his lap while they sang at the campfire around other people. The woman reported this started when she was 15.
She reportedly told police the defendant would text her and message her on Facebook, saying she was “the most beautiful girl in the world.”
The woman told her stepsister about the initial charges against Sandoval.
“Found out it happened again,” the woman reportedly wrote.
In July 2013, the stepsister also went to Sandoval’s home in Snohomish for guitar lessons so she could play a song at her father’s wedding. At the time, she was 15.
During their second lesson, Sandoval insisted she kiss him, saying she owed him for the lessons, court documents said. Before the next lesson, Sandoval messaged her on Facebook, asking her to wear a skirt or dress so he could “see her better,” according to the new charges. Sandoval reportedly told her to delete the messages because he did not want her parents to get mad.
Sandoval had the girl sit on his lap and touched her, the charges say. She pushed Sandoval’s hand away, which he laughed off, she told police.
The girl indicated to police she reported Sandoval’s actions to her parents, but nothing came of it, according to the charges.
The parents of the two women corroborated much of the timeline, according to police.
Sandoval has not been formally charged with the older allegations.
The new charges also recount a followup interview with the first girl who came forward to police. Sandoval allegedly would take the money he used to pay the girl and put it in her back pocket, taking “more time than necessary” to place the money in her pants, in addition to other behavior in line with the other accounts.
Sandoval’s arraignment on the three new charges was set for Wednesday. He was not in custody as of Tuesday, and his brewery has been open while the case has been pending.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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