Whatcom man allegedly held girl, 16, in shack for 10 days

By David Rasbach / The Bellingham Herald

A registered sex offender living in Whatcom County reportedly held a 16-year-old girl against her will for 10 days in a shack, gave her alcohol and marijuana and raped her, at one point with a knife to her throat.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Darrin Scott Moseley, 39, into Whatcom County Jail Wednesday on suspicion of multiple counts of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, felony harassment, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest.

Moseley also had multiple warrants for his arrest, including one for failure to register as a sex offender in Snohomish County, according to a sheriff’s office news release Thursday, Nov. 19.

Deputies were called to an area north of Bellingham at approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, for a welfare check, after a juvenile female called 911, gave her name, said she “just need(ed) to go home” and hung up, the release stated. Dispatch could not reach the caller, but the location of the call was traced to the 4700 block of North King Mountain Road.

Deputies contacted Moseley in a 10-foot-by-10-foot shack he lives in on the property, according to the release, and saw a 16-year-old girl inside the shack. She immediately ran outside and asked the deputies to taker her home.

When the victim spoke to deputies in private, she reportedly told them that Moseley had kept her there against her will after she had been dropped off 10 days earlier.

Deputies arrested Moseley on the outstanding warrants and took him and the victim to the sheriff’s office for further interviews, according to the release.

It was during those interviews that the victim reported that Moseley had sexually assaulted her and, at one point, held a knife to her throat, the release states. Moseley also reportedly deleted the contacts off her phone, gave her alcohol and marijuana and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave.

Mosley admitted to having sex with the victim and to giving her alcohol and marijuana, the release states.

Whatcom County Superior Court records show Moseley’s warrant out of Snohomish County was from 2018. Court records show he was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender in 2001, 2006 and 2014 in Whatcom County and 2001 in Kitsap County.

Moseley also has previous convictions for robbery, bail jumping and making a death threat by phone, court records show.

Court also records show, as a juvenile, Moseley was convicted of first-degree rape of a child for a 1997 incident and of first-degree child molestation for a 1994 incident, both of which occurred in Whatcom County.