Oak Harbor man accused of child rape

OHPD obtained videos that allegedly show a man raping a 13-year-old on multiple occasions.

Oak Harbor police obtained videos that allegedly show a man raping a 13-year-old child on multiple occasions, a police report states.

The defendant, 28-year-old Matthew Knight of Anacortes, also admitted to police that he sexually abused the girl, an Oak Harbor officer wrote in a report about the case.

Prosecutors charged Knight in Island County Superior Court July 2 with rape of a child in the second degree.

Knight appeared in Island County Superior Court Monday. Chief Criminal Prosecutor Eric Ohme said Knight will likely face additional charges in Island or Skagit counties, or both.

Ohme asked the judge to set bail at $100,000 because of Knight’s warrant history. He also argued that the age difference between Knight and the victim make it more likely that Knight would try to intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence.

Knight’s attorney, Claire Highland, asked the judge to set a much lower bail. She said he had been homeless recently, but a friend offered him a job and a place to live. She said he has family in the Coupeville area.

Noting that the allegations were disturbing, Cliff set Knight’s bail at $75,000.

According to a report by an Oak Harbor police officer, the 13-year-old victim called 911 from the McDonald’s on June 29 to report that Knight had stolen her phone and that he was “a pedophile.” The officer had previously handled a runaway case in which the victim’s friend claimed that Knight was having sex with the victim and providing her with meth.

At McDonald’s, the officer encountered Knight, the victim and three other people arguing. Knight claimed that the girl had given him the phone but eventually gave it back and left. The other three people said they were there to make sure she was safe from Knight.

After Knight left, the girl again told the officer that Knight was a pedophile and the officer asked if she had proof. She showed the officer videos on her phone that showed her being raped, the report states.

One of the people in the group told police that Knight had showed him explicit photos of the girl, the report states.

The officer contacted an Anacortes police officer, who told him that the department had four previous cases involving Knight and the girl inside of a green Honda Accord. The officer confiscated Knight’s phone and was obtaining a search warrant to review the contents.

Knight later confessed to a detective that he had sex with the girl, the report states.