A Thurston County man is facing multiple felony sexual misconduct charges in Lewis County Superior Court for allegedly assaulting a child under the age of 14 repeatedly between May 2019 and November 2023.
The victim reportedly disclosed the abuse to staff at W.F. West High School in Chehalis on Nov. 11. The Chehalis Police Department initially responded, but referred the case to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office once investigators learned the abuse did not take place within Chehalis city limits, according to court documents.
The defendant, identified as David Allen Roth, 34, of Olympia, is accused of sexually assaulting the juvenile victim multiple times in Centralia and the Napavine areas between May 2019 and November 2023. He is also accused of asking her to take naked photos of herself and upload them to a file he had access to.
When the abuse first began in 2019, Roth allegedly told the victim “she was not allowed to tell anyone because he would go to jail or kill himself,” according to court documents.
Roth was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at noon on Thursday, Dec. 7. He was charged Dec. 8 with one count of second-degree rape of a child, one count of third-degree rape of a child, and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges on Dec. 8.
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Bassetti acknowledged that Roth has no criminal history.
“However the allegations in this matter, I think, show an extreme issue for community safety,” he said Friday.
Due to that community safety concern, Bassetti asked Judge J. Andrew Toynbee to set Roth’s bail at $50,000 and to issue a no-contact order in favor of the victim. Bassetti also asked for restricted conditions of release prohibiting Roth to have any contact with minors.
While defense attorney John Sheeran asked for bail to be set no higher than $15,000 and asked for an electronic home-monitoring alternative, Toynbee granted the state’s request for higher bail.
“I’m not concerned with the criminal history. There’s a lack of criminal history. I am concerned with community safety and the victim’s safety,” Toynbee said Friday.
Toynbee additionally granted the requested no-contact order protecting the victim and set conditions of release that include provisions preventing Roth from contacting any minors or going anywhere minors congregate, such as parks or schools, until the case is resolved.
Trial is scheduled to begin the week of Jan. 29.
