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Police arrest convicted rapist mistakenly released on bail
Seattle police officers in North Seattle arrested 50-year-old Noel Stepney Tuesday afternoon. The convicted rapist had been mistakenly released from jail on bail.
SEATTLE - Seattle police officers in North Seattle arrested 50-year-old Noel Stepney Tuesday afternoon.
The convicted rapist had been mistakenly released from jail on bail.
On Aug. 26., at about 2:30 p.m., patrol officers in the area of North 141st Street and Linden Avenue North saw Stepney standing on the sidewalk and detained him.
He gave officers the wrong name when asked to identify himself. The officers identified him as the wanted man and arrested him.
Noel Stepney
Detectives in the Sexual Assault & Child Abuse Unit (SAU) investigated a 2019 allegation of rape of a woman inside an abandoned house in South Seattle. Detectives later referred criminal charges to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office when a positive DNA match placed the man at the scene of the crime.
A jury convicted the suspect of rape in June. He mistakenly bonded out of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, WA on July 26 while awaiting sentencing.
Police received reports from community members that the convict was in the Seattle area and detectives issued the BOLO alert to all SPD officers.
Once arrested, Seattle police officers booked him into the King County Jail for his felony bench warrant for Rape in the Second Degree, issued by the King County Superior Court on July 29.
The convicted serial rapist faces over 13 years in prison which will soon be determined by the King County Superior Court.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from court documents and the King County Prosecutor's Office.