SPOKANE, Wash. — A man was being accused of human trafficking and raping a 15-year-old Spokane Valley girl over the course of two months in 2024.
32-year-old William Morse, of Tekoa, Washington, was accused of answering a post on Craigslist, advertising babysitting services. Two teen girls posted the ad, saying they were CPR-certified, and could work after school and on weekends to watch kids.
According to court documents, Morse solicited sex acts in exchange for money, beginning in October 2024, and continuing through the end of December. The statements Morse is alleged to have made to the teen, documented by detectives, are extremely graphic.
In one instance, detectives documented that they learned through email evidence that Morse went to one of the teens’ homes when her parents were not home, and despite her telling him to “stop,” he raped her. He allegedly gave her $300 before the rape, and left the house shortly before her parents returned home.
Court documents showed he asked her to have her friend, from the Craigslist ad, join them for sex on a different day. He offered to pay them both. Investigators said Morse only communicated with the teen through email, and used sexualized emojis as part of a pattern of grooming behavior.
The affidavit of facts detailed Morse offering the teen marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms while talking about meeting up for sex.
The prosecutor’s office pointed out that Morse was being investigated for contacting another, underage person for sex for money in a separate case.
During an interview with detectives, Morse denied all allegations, and said he and his live-in girlfriend were having relationship problems. At the time of the interview, he lived with her and her two children, a boy and a girl. He also had unsupervised visitation with his son.
Morse’s mother spoke in court, in support of Morse, saying he was a “law-abiding citizen,” and that these charges “do not represent my son.”
“He told me he did not do this, and I believe him” his mother said in court, and “his views in trafficking are not- he does not believe in it.”
Morse was charged with 12 criminal counts, including human trafficking, commercial sex abuse of a minor, rape, child molestation and trying to distribute a controlled substance to a minor.
In court Wednesday afternoon, Commissioner Tony Rugel set bond at $500,000 at the request of prosecutors.
When asked if Commissioner Rugel had an opportunity to review the police reports related to the case, Rugel seemingly addressed Morse’s mother’s comments, saying,
“I have, and based on the police reports that I see, he’ll be lucky if he isn’t charged with additional ones. I understand that he’s told you that he hasn’t done this. I think you would be surprised at what’s in the police report and what they were able to confirm- how they were able to confirm that it was him. I tell you that only because I think it’s probably a good idea for you to be fully-aware of what it is that he’s going to be facing, because it could impact you, as well.”I wish the information I am reading here in this docket were not true. I wish that it was one incident that was alleged. I wish that they didn’t have a positive identification from the victim- the child, that he has allegedly raped.”There is, what appears to be an overwhelming amount of evidence, and they’re continuing their investigation on other victims because it appears that there were victims that he was contacting in the same way, the same method, and he’s been positively identified by the victim as the person who raped her.”So, if I were in your position, I would not want to believe that my son may have done this. Really, the only way that he will be able to receive help, if, in fact, he’s convicted of these things, is by having people around him that are willing to acknowledge what has happened, but hopefully can get him help,” Rugel said.
Morse was next scheduled to appear in court on February 25 at 9:00 a.m.
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