Ferndale man accused of sex crimes against vulnerable adults at Skagit rehab center
A Ferndale man arrested Sunday night at the U.S.-Canada border near Lynden is suspected of sexually assaulting more than a dozen elderly men and women who were patients at a Skagit County rehabilitation center where he worked, court records show.
In a Skagit County Superior Court document dated April 24, Anacortes police detective Sgt. Chad Pruiett said his investigation began in early 2018 when Adult Protective Services told him that a patient at San Juan Rehab Center in Anacortes had said she was inappropriately kissed by a nurse.
The nurse was identified later as Willie Orlando Lawton III, Pruiett said in a probable cause statement seeking a warrant for Lawton’s arrest.
Lawton, 55, was detained Sunday night as he returned from Canada by U.S. authorities who saw the warrant for his arrest in a national crime database.
The investigation revealed that Lawton had assaulted more than a dozen men and women in various ways, ranging from unwanted kissing and fondling to forced sexual intercourse, court documents state.
Some victims were described as vulnerable adults suffering from dementia. Others claimed their sexual contact was consensual, according to court documents.
Lawton remains in Skagit County Jail in lieu of $250,0000 bail, after he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree rape of a frail elder or vulnerable adult, indecent liberties with a frail elder or vulnerable adult and two counts of fourth-degree assault with special allegations for sexual motivation.
This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Ferndale man accused of sex crimes against vulnerable adults at Skagit rehab center."
