Prosecutor amends charges against Auburn man, originally charged with kidnapping, assault and rape of a child

The King County Prosecutor’s Office has amended the charges against a 52-year-old Auburn man whom Auburn Police say took a 14-year-old Mount Baker Middle School student to his nearby apartment at gunpoint and raped her Oct. 9.

Whereas the original charges against Ronald Williams had been third-degree rape of a child, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault, the kidnapping and assault charges have been dropped, leaving him at this time up against a single charge of second-degree rape.

Second degree rape is a class A felony.

The single amended charge would appear to call into question some major details of the original account as given to police.

“Additional aspects of this case are under investigation,” the prosecutor’s office explained in a terse statement to the Auburn Reporter Friday morning. “If applicable, we can amend the charges at a later time.”

Williams’ arraignment hearing is at 9 a.m., Oct. 25 in courtroom G at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He is in the King County Correctional Center on $150,000 bond.

Here is what Auburn Police wrote in their statement of probable cause, upon which the King County Prosecutor based its earlier charges.

At about 12:40 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 9 Auburn officers responded to a call about a possible kidnapping and sexual assault in the 500 block of 37th Street Southeast. Officers found the victim, who reported that a felony had occurred at 537 37th St. SE. Police say the girl picked up her attacker’s cellphone during a lull in the assault and called 911.

Police said when they arrived and escorted the traumatized girl away, Williams barricaded himself in his apartment with a handgun and refused to come out, At that point, Valley Com dispatched negotiators and the Valley SWAT to the scene, Mt. Baker Middle School and Gildo Rey Elementary were placed under precautionary lockdown, and police closed both directions of 37th Street Southeast for several hours.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Williams surrendered to police, without further incident. No shots were fired during the standoff.

The girl told police her attacker had stuck what she believed to be a gun in her back as she was walking to school, told her to cooperate and play nice and directed her to his apartment, where he raped her. “We did arrest him and take him into custody after the standoff, which lasted about three hours,” said Auburn Police Cmdr. Steve Stocker.