Enumclaw Man Charged With Child Molestation After Investigation Into 10-Year-Old Allegations Reopened

Jul. 29--An Enumclaw man appeared in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday facing child molestation charges from alleged incidents that occurred 10 years ago.

Kenneth R. Bishop, 58, of Enumclaw, was charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation in June 2020.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, sometime in 2010, Bishop allegedly had touched a 10-year-old girl inappropriately on several occasions.

The investigation was opened in 2013 after the alleged victim's grandmother found the girl's journal where she wrote about Bishop. The grandmother turned the diary over to the girl's mother, who then turned it over to police, according to the affidavit.

However, the investigation was suspended due to the alleged victim being unready to make a full disclosure of the alleged incidents at the time.

Bishop was interviewed by detectives and denied any inappropriate touching while admitting there may have been an instance where the alleged victim straddled him while they were playing.

In July of 2018, the Lewis County Sheriff's Office reopened the investigation into the allegations and later found that Bishop had been accused of similar inappropriate relations with young girls on at least three separate occasions, with three separate alleged victims that have no known connection to the initial alleged victim, according to the affidavit.

At Bishop's preliminary appearance on Monday, deputy prosecutor Silvia Irimescu requested unsecured bail, meaning he would remain out of custody at no cost, due to the dated allegations and the fact that he showed up for his court hearing. She also asked that a sexual assault protection order be entered.

Bishop's Attorney, Donald Winskill, took no issue with the state's proposal and Judge James Lawler agreed to a personal recognizance bond for Bishop's conditions of release.

Bishop is scheduled to be arraigned on August 6.

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