Police conclude investigation of alleged high-profile pimp

Seattle Police have completed a long investigation into allegations a Central District man raped him while he was being groomed for escort work, but the county prosecutor’s office reports it could take several more weeks before a charging decision is reached.

The well-known LGBTQ activist has been under investigation for promoting prostitution since late February 2017, when a man contacted Seattle Police about the alleged rape.

He told officers he met the suspect while they were working at a gay bar in Capitol Hill, and in early 2017 the suspect reportedly attempted to recruit him as an escort. The alleged victim was 22 at the time.

“(The suspect) told him explicitly that he could be working for persons in position of power, and specifically mentioned government leaders (not by name, but by role),” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in March 2017. “… He also stated that he had already placed other similar males and at least one female into similar lucrative escort work.”

The alleged victim told investigators he was groomed by the suspect, and encouraged by the potential of earning as much as $1,000 per event, according to the affidavit. He said the suspect took him to a bathhouse in February 2017, so “he could learn to handle himself in a ‘truly sexually-charged environment,’” and gave him methamphetamine because of its prevalence at parties he would be working, the affidavit states.

The two men had a falling out in late February, when the alleged victim says he was drugged and raped by the suspect at his home in the Central District, and that it was possibly recorded, according to the affidavit. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center for a sexual assault examination.

The alleged victim later told investigators he couldn’t be sure if he’d been raped, but he spoke about the suspect’s narcotic possession and prostitution promotion “with certainty and clarity,” according to the affidavit.

A number of computers, video cameras, phones — including a plastic bag containing seven cellphones — a lunchbox with paraphernalia and crystallized powder, pills, USB and external hard drives, and paperwork for a Steamworks Bath membership were seized during the execution of a search warrant at the suspects home in March 2017, according to an inventory and return of search warrant.

Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson with SPD Public Affairs tells the Madison Park Times the investigation was completed and sent to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in early August.

The prosecuting attorney’s office reported on Aug. 10 that a filing decision should be reached within a few weeks.