Police hunt for man in Bremerton sex attack

BREMERTON -- A hunt is under way in Kitsap County to find the man who invaded an East Bremerton home and sexually assaulted two 11-year-old girls there.

The man tied up the girls and three teens who arrived at the home after school Thursday. The stepfather of some of the children chased him off hours later.

The children were treated at a hospital and released. Chief of Detectives Mike Davis of the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office yesterday characterized them as "very brave. They were able to provide a very good suspect description."


	The man in a home-invasion sexual assault in Bremerton has a goatee with no mustache.

Detectives issued a composite photo of the attacker. They described him as about 18 to 20 years old, approximately 5 feet, 7 inches tall with a heavy build, and having short light brown hair, a goatee without a mustache, sideburns with a distinctive hair line. He has a tattoo of a sun on his shoulder.

The attack began Thursday about 2:30 p.m. when the two girls went to the home of one of them after school. As they walked into the bathroom, "a stranger came to the door and ordered them upstairs," Davis said.

Once in an upstairs room, the man tied up the girls and sexually assaulted them, Davis said. He said the man spent about two hours in the room with them but didn't assault them the entire time.


	The suspect also had a sun tattoo on his shoulder.

The 15-year-old sister of one of the victims got home about 5 p.m. and "was accosted by the intruder, taken upstairs and tied up as well," Davis said. A few minutes later, a girlfriend of the 15-year-old arrived and the man took her to the room and tied her up also, he said.

Shortly thereafter, a 14-year-old brother arrived home and encountered the man in the kitchen, said Davis. The man overpowered the boy and took him, too, upstairs and tied him up.

The stepfather arrived home about 5:30 and encountered the man on the stairwell. The man ran from the house and through a nearby strip mall . The stepfather chased him in his vehicle but the man got away.

As the man ran through the strip mall, he discarded a knife that witnesses pointed out to detectives. Forensic experts were evaluating the knife yesterday, said Davis.

After losing the man, the stepfather returned home to discover the four girls and his stepson bound in the upstairs room.

Deputies arrived and dispatched a police dog that was unable to establish a track, said Davis.

Angry and scared Bremerton residents mobilized against the man. Schools sent home letters to parents. People flooded police with tips.

"There have been a lot of houses around here broken into," said Tina Stocknoe, standing in front of her home a few doors away from the scene of the attack.

Stocknoe patted the head of her 7-year-old daughter, Jasmine, and said: "I had her walking home from the school bus by herself last week. Never again. I'm going to watch everybody. It's probably someone right here in the neighborhood."

P-I reporter Paul Shukovsky can be reached at 206-448-8072 or paulshukovsky@seattlepi.com

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