Jury finds former SPS coach not guilty of child rape
A King County jury last week returned not guilty verdicts in the second trial of a volunteer coach who had been accused of repeatedly raping a former Garfield High School student.
After a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for about 2 ½ days before finding Walter Jones, 48, not guilty of two counts of second-degree rape of a child and two counts of third-degree rape of a child on May 27.
Jones' first trial on the same charges resulted in a hung jury in December.
A volunteer weightlifting coach at the Central District high school, Jones was accused of raping a student beginning when she was 13 until she was 15. The girl was still in middle school when she started training with Garfield's girls basketball team due to her promising athletic talent, according to court records. The former student, now 26, was attending college out of state when she reported the alleged rapes to Seattle police in 2021.
Defense attorneys Dennis Martin and Hannah Roman said in a statement that Jones maintained his innocence from the time charges were filed.
"He is heartened that a jury, after listening carefully to the evidence - including testimony from expert witnesses for both the State and the defense - unanimously acquitted him of all charges," the statement says. "His exoneration is an important step toward rebuilding his life and repairing the harm that these untrue allegations have caused him and his family."
Two judges presided over Jones' trials - and one key difference was that in the first trial, the defense was not allowed to cross-examine the former student about previous sexual assaults committed against her by other men while cross-examination was allowed in the second trial, court records show.
"This was an important case to bring before the court," Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County prosecuting attorney's office, said in an email. "We appreciate the hard work of Seattle Police investigators, and we respect the jury's decision."
Though he was found not guilty of the criminal charges, alleged sexual misconduct by Jones and another coach, Marvin Hall, against the former student was the basis for Seattle Public Schools paying a record $16 million to settle a lawsuit she brought alleging district employees failed to prevent years of sexual and emotional abuse.
The complaint alleged the district was negligent for allowing Jones to volunteer on campus, though he was barred from working anywhere in the district, and for failing to report and prevent sexual abuse and discrimination based on a disability.
Before the sexual abuse allegedly started, the former student was identified by the district as particularly vulnerable and suffering from an emotional disability. The complaint defined emotional disability as "a broad term used in the field of special education to describe a range of mental health issues, including emotional instability, behavioral challenges, social difficulties, and academic struggles." She had an individualized education plan to provide her academic and social support in school.
Jones had been marked by the district as "do not rehire" after he was fired from Ballard High School, the complaint said.
The lawsuit claimed Hall, another coach, entered an abusive relationship with the former student and sexually exploited her from when she was 17 until after her 21st birthday. Hall, then 43, was the assistant coach of Garfield's boys basketball team when he met the former student and later assisted Garfield's girls team, the lawsuit said.
Hall pleaded guilty last June to sexual misconduct with a minor and was released from the King County Jail in December, according to court and jail records.
Information from The Seattle Times' archives is included in this story.
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