Sex offender Michael Stanley held in Seattle on $100,000 bail
Violent sex offender Michael Stanley is being held on $100,000 bail after being arrested in West Seattle on a misdemeanour charge of harassment, but suspected in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy.
Wearing a red prison uniform with his hands shackled in front of him, Stanley appeared before a Seattle Municipal Court judge by video from the King County Jail. He did not speak to the judge during the brief hearing.
The judge set bail at Stanley's first court appearance Wednesday morning, citing the circumstances of how he fled Canada to the United States.
The normal bail on the misdemeanour is $1,000.
The harassment charge followed an incident Tuesday morning in which police say Stanley threatened someone who asked him to be quiet. Authorities are still working to re-book Stanley on more serious charges, saying he is being investigated for assaulting a 16-year-old boy.
Authorities say Stanley is also being investigated for assault after Seattle police said he met a boy at a west Seattle grocery store, struck up a conversation and walked with him to an alley where he plied the teen with alcohol and attacked him. The boy pulled a knife and was able to escape, police said.
Stanley had registered as a sex offender with the King County sheriff's office and listed his address as an intersection just a block away from Seattle's Pike Place Market, a scenic destination for both tourists and locals. It's also near a preschool, even though he had been ordered to stay away from children in Canada.
Detectives believe the attack on the teen happened before police received several calls reporting noise in an alley and Stanley threatening someone who asked him to be quiet. When police arrived, Stanley became combative and said he had a knife.
He appeared intoxicated, according to authorities. He was arrested and jailed for investigation of harassment.
Stanley most recently served a 32-month prison term after what parole documents describe as a case in which he lured two mentally challenged boys into an apartment, lit a crack pipe and blew smoke in their faces and then sexually assaulted them.
Parole documents also describe another case in which Stanley broke into an elderly woman's apartment while she was sleeping and sexually assaulted her.
He was being monitored by police under a peace bond, which Canadian authorities can get to impose conditions on individuals in the community. Stanley's peace bond has 20 conditions, including one ordering him to stay away from children.
Police in Canada issued a public alert earlier this month after Stanley cut off his electronic-monitoring bracelet. Officials described him as an untreated, violent offender who posed a significant risk.
An American citizen, Stanley crossed the border and was located in the Seattle area last week. Canadian officials decided not to seek extradition.
Before Tuesday, there was no reason to arrest Stanley since Canada hadn't pursued an extraditable warrant and he wasn't wanted for any crimes in the United States, authorities said.
Stanley, who lived in Edmonton, removed his electronic-monitoring anklet earlier this month.
While police searched for him, unconfirmed sightings of Stanley led schools in several west-central Saskatchewan communities to lock their doors and keep children inside.
