A Highline School District teacher and coach pleaded not guilty Monday to third-degree attempted rape of a child in connection with a 15-year-old girl he met in October at Kent’s Lake Meridian Park.
Daniel Gregory Lum-Lung, 34, of Renton, is scheduled to return Dec. 8 to King County Superior Court in Kent for a hearing, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He could receive a trial date at the hearing or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.
Kent Police arrested Lum-Lung on Nov. 15 for investigation of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, according to charging papers filed Nov. 16. He posted bail and was released Nov. 17 from the county jail, according to jail records. Bail was set at $50,000.
Lum-Lung is a physical education teacher at Cascade Middle School and the girls volleyball coach at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines, both in the Highline School District.
School district officials placed Lum-Lung on administrative leave as soon as they were contacted by Kent Police, said Catherine Carbone Rogers, district spokeswoman, in a Nov. 22 phone interview. She said Cascade hired Lum-Lung in 2005. Rogers was unsure how long he had coached the Mount Rainier volleyball team, but he did coach them this fall.
Rogers said the district also is conducting an investigation into Lum-Lung’s activities. She said the girl is not a Highline School District student.
“We want to know if he had any inappropriate activity in the Highline district,” Rogers said. “We don’t know of any but we want to make sure we look at it. He is on leave until the conclusion of our investigation.”
Lum-Lung met the 15-year-old girl on a telephone chat line. They agreed to meet at about 5 p.m. Oct. 22 at Lake Meridian Park on Kent’s East Hill, according to charging papers.
While at the park, Lum-Lung allegedly made several verbal requests of the girl to do certain sexual acts. The girl told him no.
The girl also told police that Lum-Lung asked her to meet him inside the park restroom. She left the park after he entered the restroom. A couple of days later, the girl received an email reportedly from Lum-Lung that referred to “with you in the rain at Lake Meridian.” The email sender also asked if she wanted to see him again. They did not meet again.
The girl and the mother reported the incident to the girl’s school and police were contacted.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and served it on Yahoo to access the Internet account connected with the emails sent to the girl. Detectives served the warrant on Oct. 27 and received Yahoo’s response on Nov. 10. The account showed a name of Black Stevebn. A search of the contact list showed a list of Mount Rainier volleyball players that eventually led detectives to Lum-Lung.
Detectives obtained a state Department of Licensing photograph of Lum-Lung and created a six-photograph lineup including his photo to show to the girl. She positively identified the photo of Lum-Lung as the man who met her at the park.
During an interview with detectives, Lum-Lung admitted he contacted the girl through a telephone chat line and that he met her at Lake Meridian Park. He said their conversation had sexual connotations but he said the girl brought up the subject talking about having a 40-year-old boyfriend. Lum-Lung confessed he did ask twice for a sexual act, but did not remember what words he used.
Lum-Lung said he had engaged in answering personal ads on Craigslist, which he kept secret from his wife, and received pornographic photos of adult women via the Internet and his Yahoo account. He denied having any other communications or contact with any minors other than the girl.
Lum-Lung has no criminal history.
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