(UPDATE/EDITOR’S NOTE: Police now say Stanley is under investigation for sexual assault – scroll down for newest info)
9:50 AM: Just published on SPD Blotter:
Seattle police have arrested Sean Michael Stanley, a violent sex offender who fled Canada and entered the US earlier this month.
Just before 6 AM this morning, police received several reports that a man was yelling in an alley near the 2300 block of 44th Avenue SW in West Seattle.
One caller told police that when he’d asked the man to quiet down, the man had threatened to assault him.
When officers arrived at the scene, they Stanley, who became combative with officers and claimed he had a knife.
Officers found a small knife on Stanley, who appeared intoxicated, and booked him into the King County Jail for harassment.
ADDED 10:45 AM: First – in case you are wondering which alley in the 2300 block of 44th, police say it’s the one between California and 44th, behind the Admiral Theater (added: photo of the general area).
No word yet what he was doing in West Seattle; in case you haven’t seen the regional-media reports about Stanley, here’s one from the Seattle Times (WSB partner) published before today’s arrest. He is 48 years old and was out of prison in Canada after serving time for crimes including, reports the Times, “raping an 82-year-old woman who used a wheelchair and of luring and sexually assaulting two mentally challenged boys.”
On October 1st, he removed a monitoring device he had been ordered to wear, and eventually made his way to the U.S./Canada border crossing in Blaine, north of Bellingham. He turned up in Seattle last week and, while local authorities aren’t sure if he is required to register here – Canada didn’t even want him extradited – he did register as transient, saying he was living near Pike Place Market. Here is his page on the King County sex-offender registry site; we’ve added the photo from that page to this story.
11:07 AM: According to the King County Jail Register, Stanley was booked at 8:42 am and his bail is set at $1,000. He is listed on the register as Michael Shawn Stanley; the names/aliases listed on his sex-offender-registration page are Michael Sean Stanley, Michael A. Bigwolf, David Quintasket, Carl C. Youngpine. He is a U.S. citizen and entered the country on October 7th, according to Canadian reports. There’s more about his background in this story, which notes that he has a record with at least four dozen convictions.
11:39 AM: Since the charge on which he’s being held is a misdemeanor, it’s being handled by Seattle Municipal Court and the city attorney’s office, whose spokesperson Kimberly Mills says he is scheduled for arraignment tomorrow morning.
12:23 PM: Police now say Stanley is under investigation for a reported sexual assault just before his Admiral arrest early today. An update from SPD Blotter:
Shortly after arresting sex offender Michael Sean Stanley this morning, Seattle police received information that he may be the suspect in a sexual assault in West Seattle earlier today.
According to the report police received this morning, Stanley met a 16-year-old male at a grocery store, struck up a conversation with the teen, and walked with him to an alley in the 2400 block of 44th Ave. SW. In the alley, Stanley plied the teen with alcohol, grabbed the teen, and sexually assaulted him. The 16-year-old pulled a knife on Stanley and was able to run to another location and contact police.
Detectives believe this incident may have preceded several calls to police about noise and threats in the alleyway. After investigating those complaints this morning, officers arrested Stanley for harassment.
Stanley, who fled Canada and entered the US earlier this month, is currently in the King County Jail, but will be re-booked on additional charges today.
Stanley is currently registered as a sex offender and is under the supervision of the King County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities are now working to determine how this will impact his offender status.
Since attempted sexual assault is a felony, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will now be involved in the case; we’re checking with them regarding plans for a bail hearing – most likely won’t be before tomorrow.
3:32 PM: No new updates yet – the jail register still shows Stanley behind bars. He has been out of prison in Canada since April 2011. We haven’t found court documents for any of his cases but he does have a record in our state as well, dating up to the turn of the millennium. He had a King County Superior Court case from 1983 – when he would have been in his late teens – but the docket doesn’t cite the charge and the records are not available online.
MONDAY MORNING UPDATE, 10:05 AM: The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB he has yet to be booked in the sexual-assault case, so he won’t be on the bail-hearing calendar for that today. He is in Seattle Municipal Court right now and citywide reporters say he has pleaded not guilty and that bail has just been set at $100,000. Separate story to come.
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