King County prosecutors have charged a 31-year-old Kent man with two counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree rape for allegedly raping prostitutes he picked up in January along Aurora Avenue North in Seattle.
Brandon Cole Reed is scheduled to be arraigned on March 28 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle. He remains in custody at the county jail in Seattle with bail set at $500,000.
“The defendant picks up prostitutes on Aurora Avenue, drives to a nearby location and then rapes them by brandishing a knife, threatening to hurt or kill them, handcuffing them or brandishing mace and then forcibly raping them,” according to court documents filed by Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Carla B. Carlstrom. “He rapes them face down on the passenger seat of the car and also videotapes or takes pictures of them with his phone.”
One of the victims obtained Reed’s license plate number. He also was identified in photo montages shown to the victims. Detectives found further evidence of the rapes in Reed’s vehicle. He is a suspect in several additional rapes which remain under investigation.
The women’s ages in the rape charges are 38, 34 and 33.
Reed was convicted at age 12 in King County of second-degree rape for dragging a 12-year-old girl to an abandoned house and and along with his older brother forcibly raping her. He also is a registered sex offender due to a second-degree rape conviction. But because he was a juvenile, the conviction doesn’t count as a “first strike.”
Carlstrom requested the $500,000 bail.
“The defendant is a danger to the community,” Carlstrom wrote. “He raped three women in January and is the suspect in the continuing investigation into several other rapes.”
Seattle Police noted in a probable cause report that five other rapes of prostitutes could be connected to Reed.
Reed reportedly picked up the women in his silver 2013 VW Jetta. Police arrested Reed on March 9 after he left his Kent home in the VW Jetta. He told detectives that he frequented the Aurora Avenue area because he took jiu-jitsu (martial arts) lessons, sometimes worked up north and used a marijuana dispensary in the area.
Reed also told detectives he had multiple knives in his car, including kitchen knives. At first, Reed denied having any contact with prostitutes along Aurora but later admitted he had sex with two of them. Police found knives and mace in Reed’s vehicle.
Seattle Police in February arrested another man in connection with the rapes of prostitutes along Aurora Avenue. Prosecutors later dismissed the charges against that man.
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