King County prosecutors have charged a 69-year-old Pierce County transient and registered sex offender with first-degree child molestation in connection with incidents last year with a then 4-year-old girl in Kent.
Dennis Albert Duman is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, June 30 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He is in custody at the county jail with bail set at $1 million. Prosecutors requested the high bail because Duman has prior convictions for indecent liberties in 1982 and first-degree child molestation in 1994, according to charging papers filed June 17.
If convicted of the current charge, Duman faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.
“The defendant presents a serious risk to re-offend if released,” wrote senior deputy prosecutor Charles Sergis in the charging papers. “His first sexual assault occurred over 28 years ago and he is still offending against children as of October 2010.”
The mother of the 4-year-old girl reported to Kent Police in May the details of several incidents reportedly involving Duman and the girl. Duman knew the girl through an acquaintance and spent time at the same house with her.
The girl told her mother and later told a child interview specialist at the Regional Justice Center that Duman made her touch him sexually. She said he then told her “don’t tell or he’s going to jail,” according to charging papers.
During an interview at the Kent Police station, Duman told detectives while in the home’s laundry room he grabbed the girl’s hand and had her touch him sexually. He also said he told her “not to tell anybody or we both would get in trouble.” He also told detectives he felt guilty and “tell the girl I’m really sorry that I did that.”
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office website list of sex offenders, Duman was convicted in 1996 of assaulting a 6-year-old girl who was the daughter of parents he knew. He had the girl sit on his lap at a drive-in movie and sexually fondled her.
In 1992, Duman was convicted of indecent liberties when he assaulted a 5-year-old girl who was a step relative. He self reported that he has sexually abused at least 40 minor-aged girls, including family and non-family victims.
Duman has participated in community based sex offender treatment programs, according to the sheriff’s office website. He was classified as a Level III sex offender. Level 3 offenders are considered to have a high risk to re-offend. They usually have one or more victims and may have committed prior crimes of violence.
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