Prosecutors involved with sexual assault charges from last year resurrected the case Monday. The defendant, a senior when the case was first opened, is being charged with two separate counts of third-degree rape.
Cole Krause, 18, was also charged Monday in a different case against a different girl. This girl, 16, reported that Krause assaulted her at his home in September. She reported that he assaulted her after he offered her a ride home from work.
During that alleged assault, Krause was facing prosecution for the first case, from January 2016. Krause, then 17, was later charged in juvenile court with third-degree rape, a class C felony.
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Prosecutors linked to the first case dropped it earlier this year, saying the girl no longer wanted to participate due to the time and emotional stress involved with filing a case such as this one, according to court records. When Krause was arrested for investigation of attacking the second girl, the first girl changed her mind and indicated that she was willing to participate again.
The second girl, who filed a report this last January, did not immediately step forward because she said she was reluctant to do so after she saw how the first girl was bullied for accusing Krause, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bob Langbehn wrote in court records. Krause was arrested and emergency expelled from MTHS in January, but Edmonds School District allowed him to finish school and fulfill his required credits to graduate, per ESD policy.
After Krause was arrested March 28, he was interviewed by Mountlake Terrace police officers. He denied raping the 16-year-old girl and claimed the sex was consensual. He said she never said “no” but in the police report the girl claims she said multiple times to stop and that she did not want to have sex. During the interview, Krause attributed her accusations to her hitting her head while they were hiking, according to the affidavit.
Both of the girls reported Krause saying something to both of them after the alleged assaults about wanting to have sex more.
The first girl reported that he assaulted her in a MTHS hallway, near the 100-level classrooms, after school, around 4 p.m.
Court records stated that the two spoke often through social media and during lunch. She reported feeling close with Krause. It was after winter break that she reported he led her into an alcove in the hallway and assaulted her. She told detectives that she tried to kick him multiple times and investigators reported finding DNA evidence at the school. She went home, where she told her parents. They took her to the hospital for an official rape examination and informed police the next day.
The second girl told detectives there were other victims, about six or seven girls, who had similar experiences with Krause but did not want to come forward at this time. Langbehn wrote in court documents that the other girls were thankful for someone coming forward to report him.
Krause posted bail earlier this month, is now out of police custody and is scheduled to answer to the third-degree rape charges next month.
