Man guilty in kidnap, molestation of 6-year-old boy

By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times staff reporter

Richard Dunn was found guilty of molesting boy.

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Richard Dunn was convicted of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree child molestation and six counts of possessing child pornography.

Prosecutors said the boy had been lured off the street near an apartment complex in the Kingsgate neighborhood north of Kirkland in the summer of 2001, then bound and beaten in Dunn's apartment two blocks away. The boy was found alive the next day.

Dunn was arrested a few hours later after he was turned in by a former employee he had asked for help obtaining cash and his passport.

In closing arguments yesterday, Dunn's attorney repeated Dunn's defense — that another man, Dunn's former lover, committed the crimes. Dunn was in a hurry to get out of the country because of an unrelated drunken-driving charge, the attorney, Nicolas Marchi, said.

But deputy prosecutor Scott O'Toole told jurors that Dunn's story hardly seemed likely.

"He wakes up three weeks after the (drunken-driving) arrest and says, 'Oh my God, I've got to flee the country! A DUI!' " O'Toole said. "He tells his co-workers that he can't go to the hospital and he can't go to the bank. Come on! What, are bank tellers now looking out for DUIs? That's not the same bank I go to."

Prosecutors said yesterday they will seek an exceptional 25-year sentence for Dunn. The standard sentence is 12 to 16 years.

Jurors were to meet again today to determine whether the prosecution proved that Dunn's crimes were committed with a sexual motivation, whether the boy was an especially vulnerable victim, and whether Dunn knew or should have known that.

Jurors were not allowed to speak publicly about the case yesterday because they must still deliberate on those issues today.

Prosecutors said that Dunn, who had a history of assault and domestic violence, had long made known his predilection for little boys.
 
Police said they found in Dunn's apartment his written offer to a homeless man to pay between $2,000 and $5,000 for procuring young boys.

The man Dunn blamed for the kidnapping, Brandon Walcutt, testified last month that when Dunn was particularly stressed out, he would ask Walcutt to bring home a little boy to have sex with. Walcutt testified that on those occasions he would leave, wait a while, and then tell Dunn he couldn't find a child.

Walcutt also said Dunn became obsessed with child pornography and spent hours downloading it. According to court documents, more than 63,000 images of child pornography were found on Dunn's computer.

The victim testified last week that he had been riding bikes with friends when Dunn approached, asked for help, then grabbed the boy and took him to his apartment.

Once there, Dunn beat the boy with a belt and smashed his face into the bathroom wall. The boy's blood and Dunn's DNA were found on the shower walls, O'Toole said.

Staff reporter Ashley Bach contributed to this report.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com