An Island County Superior Court judge put out a $20,000 bench warrant Friday on a 48-year-old Freeland man accused of molesting a nine-year-old boy.

Judge Vickie Churchill approved the warrant after Clifton Ellison didn’t show up for a readiness hearing Oct. 19.

Ellison was charged with first-degree child molestation June 22 after a detective from the Island County Sheriff’s Office investigated reports that Ellison had sexually molested three children.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, the three children reported that Ellison touched them in a sexual manner on several occasions between Dec. 1, 1999, and July 31, 2000.

The nine-year-old boy said that Ellison molested him and attempted to rape him while he was trying to sleep, according to police reports.

Ellison’s trial was originally scheduled for Nov. 6, but that will likely be rescheduled.