Convicted sex offender believed to be a 'danger to women' arrested at Cal Anderson Park
SEATTLE - King County Sheriff's detectives in the Warrant Unit arrested convicted sex offender Corey Reece on Tuesday. Detectives had been searching for him out of concern for the safety of any woman he was with because he is accused of strangling two different victims within a month.
Last year, Reece fled to Washington State from Dane County, Wisconsin after prosecutors charged him with strangulation and suffocation, misdemeanor battery and bail jumping.
Madison (WI) Police say he admitted to strangling a woman with both hands against a headboard. According to charging documents, the victim told police that "I thought I was going to die because I knew he could kill me".
That same month, SeaTac Police arrested Reece in another strangulation case involving a different woman. Officers say he got angry and attacked the victim, strangled her and told her that he was going to kill her.
He was booked into the King County Jail for second-degree assault. He was released to a halfway house on Electronic Home Detention but was later kicked out and returned to jail.
He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to time served. He was released on Dec. 15, 2023.
The 54-year-old had several warrants for his arrest.
After our story aired last week on FOX 13 News asking for the public's help to locate him, detectives contacted multiple shelters in the Seattle area but say they were told no information could be released to them.
Detectives say a tipster saw the FOX 13 story on Reece and was concerned for the safety of a teen or young woman between the ages of 16 and 23 who they saw with Reece. They submitted an anonymous tip saying the two were at a community meal last week at Calvary The Hill church next to Cal Anderson Park.
As meals are held on Tuesdays, Warrant Unit detectives staked out the location and arrested him at Cal Anderson Park. The young woman or teen mentioned in the tip was not with him and has not been identified. Detectives say Reece told them he knew he had been on TV.
He claimed a few people who knew he had a sex offender record started to taunt him by bringing young females to him to attempt to lure him into something.
Detectives say they believe that the tipster may have prevented another person from being victimized by Reece.
He was booked into jail and is being held without bail on his fugitive from justice warrant.