Bellingham man sentenced for rape of teen girl

A Bellingham man must serve 2 years and 10 months in prison for the sex abuse of a teenage girl, a Whatcom County judge ruled this week.

The girl’s father learned of the sexual conduct in winter 2016. He reported to police that the girl, who was under 16, had been raped by Jessie Michael Day.

The girl revealed to police she and Day had kissed at least twice in recent weeks. She said that later it escalated to sexual touching and more. One day in late February 2016, she reported, he came up from behind her and undressed her.

Day was 25.

Day, a stay-at-home dad, claimed in a police interview the girl tried to “seduce” him, but he didn’t act on it. His story changed as the conversation went on. He confessed to the crime, but insisted that, if not for her age, it was consensual sex.

“I wasn’t in the clear mind at the moment,” he admitted.

Day disclosed he’d sent explicit pictures of himself to the girl. He erased them before police searched his phone, according to court records.

Prosecutors charged him with two counts of third-degree child rape and two counts of third-degree child molestation. A rape charge and a molestation charge were dropped in a plea deal in January.

Weeks ago, in a letter about the offense, Day maintained it was consensual.

Day acknowledged he was the adult in the situation, that he should have resisted his impulse, and that he knew what he did was wrong, according to a state Department of Corrections investigation. However, the Corrections evaluator concluded that Day’s behaviors were “so selfish” that he didn’t seem to realize how much harm he’d caused the girl and his own family.

The same report notes that the girl “struggles to accept that she is not responsible for the crimes that have been committed against her.”

State sentencing guidelines suggest a prison term of 26 to 34 months, for someone like Day, who had no criminal record.

Superior Court Judge Raquel Montoya-Lewis sentenced him to 34 months, as suggested by the plea deal. Once he’s out, Day will have to register as a sex offender.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Bellingham man sentenced for rape of teen girl."