Former Ferndale assistant wrestling coach pleads guilty to child sex crime
A former part-time assistant wrestling coach for the Ferndale School District who is accused of raping three girls and threatening to kill a fourth woman has pleaded guilty to a child sex crime.
Dalton Jacob Cristelli, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday, May 11, in Whatcom County Superior Court to one count of third-degree child rape. Cristelli was originally charged with third-degree child rape, second-degree rape, third-degree rape, felony harassment with threats to kill (domestic violence), felony unlawful imprisonment (domestic violence) and two counts of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault (domestic violence), court records show.
Cristelli’s charges were amended down as part of a plea deal, according to Skagit County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Branden Platter, who is handling the case for Whatcom County.
Platter was appointed as a special deputy prosecuting attorney for Whatcom County due to a conflict of interest in the case.
Cristelli’s father is a member of the Bellingham Police Department’s command staff, according to court and property records.
Cristelli’s sentencing has tentatively been scheduled for June 16. A pre-sentence investigation will be done prior to the hearing.
Cristelli was taken into custody May 11 and will remain incarcerated in the Whatcom County Jail without bail until his sentencing, as required by state law.
Cristelli was employed with the Ferndale School District from January to March 2019, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.
The case
The Ferndale School District reported to the Ferndale Police Department on May 23, 2019, that a then-20-year-old former wrestling coach had sex with a 15-year-old Ferndale High School female student, according to court records.
A second woman, who was then 18, told police in 2019 that she learned Cristelli had sex with the 15-year-old girl and reported the incident to the school district. The woman told police Cristelli had also sexually assaulted her when she was underage, the court records state.
The then-18-year-old woman told police that she disclosed to Cristelli’s brother that Cristelli assaulted her in early 2016, when she was 15 years old. Cristelli’s brother told the woman, and a friend who overheard the conversation, that he knew Cristelli had sex with a 15-year-old high school student, the records state.
The then-18-year-old woman reported the information to Ferndale High School staff.
In an interview with detectives, the 15-year-old student said she met Cristelli while he was working as a part-time wrestling coach at the high school, court records state.
The girl told detectives they would flirt in person and over social media. In March 2019, Cristelli picked the girl up from Ferndale High School before she attended a friend’s party. The girl told detectives she told Cristelli she was 15 years old, court records show.
The girl told detectives Cristelli took her back to his Ferndale apartment and had sex with her before dropping her off at her friend’s party, according to court records.
Cristelli asked the girl to delete all communications between the two of them, records show.
A third woman called Ferndale detectives to report Cristelli sexually assaulted her multiple times when she was 16, the records state.
The woman told detectives that when she was 16, she was sick and laying on her couch at home. She fell asleep and awoke to Cristelli sexually assaulting her, court records state.
The woman told detectives Cristelli sexually assaulted her while she slept on approximately six occasions, records state.
The woman told detectives Cristelli requested and received naked pictures of teenage girls, and one of the photos found by police was identified as one of the other victims, according to court records.
The woman later learned Cristelli had a hidden application on his phone that contained saved files of naked pictures he had received from girls, the records state.
On May 30, 2019 — the day Cristelli was arrested for the sex offenses — officers with the Ferndale Police Department went to Cristelli’s Ferndale apartment to execute a search warrant.
Officers spoke with a woman at the apartment, but their interview was cut short when Cristelli’s mother arrived, court records show.
When the woman was later re-interviewed by police, an officer noted a hole in the bedroom door. The woman told officers that in early May 2019, she and Cristelli attended a neighbor’s party and were drinking. Cristelli went to bed, but left his phone out and received a social media message from a girl. When the woman opened the message, it was a nude photograph of the girl, court records state.
The woman told officers she looked through Cristelli’s pictures and saw screenshots of a pornography website and found that Cristelli was paying to receive nude photographs from women in chat conversations, according to court records. The woman confronted Cristelli, told him she was leaving and called an Uber.
The woman told officers the situation “turned pretty violent” and that Cristelli pinned her on the bed before taking her phone and locking himself in the bathroom. The woman said when Cristelli came out, he started punching through the bedroom door and then assaulted the woman, according to court records. Nearby neighbors heard and came to the apartment and separated Cristelli and the woman, records show.
The woman told officers a similar situation happened in March 2019 after she confronted Cristelli about problems between the two of them. When the woman went to leave, Cristelli assaulted her, the court records state.
The woman told officers while Cristelli was giving her a ride home, he was “weaving in and out of traffic,” and going “approximately ‘110 miles’ per hour” on Interstate 5, the records show. While Cristelli was driving, he told the woman he “was going to ‘crash the car’ and ‘kill’ them both,” according to court records.
The woman reached out to Cristelli’s mother during the incident, who attempted to call Cristelli and the woman while Cristelli was driving. Cristelli told the woman that if she answered the phone, he would crash the car, court records state. He later mocked the woman and told her to tell people he abducted her, the records show.
Later that evening, Cristelli’s mother texted the woman and said Cristelli “he sounded fine. Said nothing happened…” and told the two to avoid each other for a while, the court records state.
The woman responded to Cristelli’s mother that she was “willing to bat for him for a long time,” but that the incident scared her and that Cristelli didn’t seem to be okay, court records show.
Cristelli has no previous felony criminal history, according to court records.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.
▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.
▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/
▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.
▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.
