Sequim Gazette Staff

 

A 30-year-old Sequim man will spend 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of child rape.

 

Gary Larson was arrested in February after a 12-year-old girl who knew the man as “Uncle Gary” told her parents he molested and raped her starting when she was just 5 years old.

 

Larson originally was charged with two counts of first-degree child rape and four counts of first-degree child molestation after a 21-year-old woman came forward and said he molested her, too, when she was a child.

 

The Sequim Gazette does not name victims of sexual crimes.

 

Larson took advantage of a plea offer through the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office, which agreed to drop the molestation charges if he pleaded guilty to the rape charges. He pleaded guilty July 6.

 

Several family members and friends of Larson’s, including Jonathan Simonson, pastor of Sequim Vineyard Community Church, wrote letters to the court requesting he receive a minimal sentence. They said incarceration was hard on his family and he has a good heart and just needs some help, among other things.

 

But the victim, her parents and grandmother asked the court not give him another chance to hurt someone else.

 

On Nov. 9 Judge George Wood sentenced Larson to 120 months in prison. Larson is ordered not to contact the victim for the rest of her life. He also must register as a sex offender and as such be under supervision for the rest of his life.