Former MTHS student Cole Krause has been charged with another count of sexual assault. The woman pressing charges accused Krause of sexually assaulting her on two separate occasions and is the third to come forward with accusations against Krause since 2016. Krause now faces prosecution on a total of four counts of rape, with all incidents occurring from between January to October 2016.
Krause is currently 20 years old and remains free awaiting his trial set for Jan. 25, 2019. He was 17 and 18 when the sexual assaults are alleged to have taken place, while the three women who are accusing him were all 15 and 16 at the time. Krause’s defense attorneys are currently seeking separate trials for each count of sexual assault.
Krause now faces one count of second-degree rape and one count of third-degree rape in addition to the two counts of third-degree rape he was already facing. Second-degree rape, which occurs when a victim is mentally incapacitated or physically helpless, is a class A felony. Third-degree rape, a class C felony, occurs when there is a clear lack of consent from the victim.
The latest accusations were reported to Mountlake Terrace detectives in December 2017 and charges were filed by prosecutors on Nov. 6. The woman making these allegations came forward after becoming aware of the two other women who have pressed charges against Krause.
The latest accuser, identified as AC in court documents, alleges that Krause sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions and that the sexual misconduct took place over an extended time period. Although she welcomed initial contact with Krause, it soon became unwanted and increasingly violent, and continued despite her growing protests. However, the woman did not realize that she had been sexually assaulted until she attended an event on sexual assault awareness.
Charges allege that, in one incident, the woman was left alone by her friend while intoxicated at a party and could not walk independently. Krause, upon hearing of her condition, requested that one of his friends bring her to his house. The woman became unconscious at some point during the night and woke to being sexually assaulted by Krause.
During a later incident, the woman was having consensual sex with Krause before he began to anally rape her despite her clear objections and crying.
The two earlier counts of rape from previous accusers were filed in the Snohomish County Superior Court in April 2017. However, Krause’s defense requested in July 2017 that one of the counts be dismissed due to a supposed violation of his civil rights when the case was moved from a juvenile to adult court.
The appeal of Krause’s defense team centered upon the count of rape in an MTHS hallway. The woman pressing charges on this count at one point dropped the case and had the court documents sealed. This woman was reported to have been bullied after going to the police with her allegations, according to several of those who knew her.
However, when learning that a second woman had filed charges against Krause, she requested prosecutors to again take up her case, which was upheld by the court in October 2017.
Krause was initially charged by Snohomish County prosecutor Randy Yates with third-degree rape in April 2016 for a sexual assault that took place in an alcove in a first floor MTHS hallway that the victim was pushed into on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. The sexual assault took place after school at 4:15 p.m., and prompted then-Principal Greg Schwab to bolster building security measures and require some staff members to be inside the building until the activity bus leaves at 4:30 p.m.
Krause’s first victim, also identified as AC in court documents, claimed to have often spoken with him during lunch and through social media. After being led into the alcove by Krause and sexually assaulted, she told detective about repeatedly kicking Krause. Investigators later found DNA evidence in the first floor hallway alcove in which the incident reportedly took place. After going home and informing her parents, she undertook an official rape examination at a hospital and informed police.
Krause was emergency expelled from MTHS on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016 after he was arrested during school for investigation on charges of sexual assault. Krause later completed enough credits to graduate high school by taking online classes offered to him by the Edmonds School District.
On March 28, 2017, Krause, who was released when the first charges were initially dropped, was arrested again for third-degree rape by Mountlake Terrace police detective Heidi Froisland. These charges were made at the Everett District Court by another woman. This woman reported the incident in January 2017, and the incident allegedly took place at his house in October 2016 when he was undergoing prosecution for the first count of sexual assault.
The second woman, identified as AL in court documents, alleged that, after Krause’s mother had left, Krause pushed the victim up against the wall and raped while she was repeatedly saying “no” and crying. After the incident, Krause reportedly told the victim, “we should have sex more,” according to court documents.
Krause officially denied raping the second woman, claiming that he never heard her say “no” and blamed the accusations on the woman hitting her head and undergoing a seizure during an earlier hiking trip.
The woman’s father took the matter to police after discovering text messages between Krause and his daughter, which she had saved in case she wished to report the incident.
“You forced me to have sex with you,” one of her text messages read, according to court documents.
“Ok. And im (sic) sorry I really am,” Krause reportedly replied.
The second woman who filed charges allegedly listed six other victims of Krause’s sexual assault, including the girl who reported the sexual assault to the police in January 2016, who did not wish to come forward. This woman was reluctant to report the incident due to the bullying that she witnessed against the first victim to come forward against Krause, according to Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bob Langbehn.
