A South Seattle pastor and music teacher accused of raping and molesting a teenage girl was placed on electronic home monitoring Thursday, despite efforts by King County prosecutors to have him held in the King County Jail while he awaits trial in a case that carries a potential life sentence.
The Rev. Royce Shorter, 54, was arrested and charged in February with two counts of third-degree rape and one count of third-degree child molestation, court records show. Members of Shorter's church "pooled their money" to post his $350,000 bail, according to defense attorney Amy Muth. Jail records show he was released less than 24 hours after he was booked.
On Thursday, King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Julie Kays filed two more charges against Shorter: second-degree rape and first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. Additionally, Kays added the aggravating factor of abuse of trust to each charge. Those aggravating issues can be used as a basis for an exceptional sentence if Shorter is convicted.
However, Shorter could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release if he's convicted on the second-degree-rape charge, which was filed based on new evidence that he allegedly forcibly raped a now-20-year-old woman when she was 15, Kays said.
That's because the charge would be Shorter's second strike, the maximum allowed for certain sex crimes. In 1985, he was convicted of second-degree statutory rape for having sex with a 13-year-old.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014648646_ministersex01m.html
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