Assault victim sues Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace

EDMONDS — The woman who was sexually assaulted by a former police officer is suing Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, alleging the cities failed to protect her from Daniel Lavely.

Lawyers for the cities have not yet filed responses to the lawsuit, which recently was moved to U.S. District Court in Seattle after the woman alleged her civil rights were violated.

“My clients’ position is they did nothing to cause the injury claim. What Lavely did was outside the scope of his employment and contrary to training and policy,” said Mark Bucklin, an attorney representing Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace.

Lavely, 50, is jailed in Texas awaiting trial on an unrelated sex crime. He resigned from the Edmonds Police Department in 2013.

That same year, a Snohomish County jury convicted him of custodial sexual misconduct. Jurors were convinced Lavely forced sex on the woman outside his patrol car behind a clothing store on Highway 99. The woman testified that she was afraid to refuse Lavely. It’s against the law for a police officer to have sex with somebody they are detaining, even if the contact is consensual.

The lawsuit alleges that the woman was raped.

Lavely denied having sex with the woman. He admitted on the stand that he lied about his dealings with her, saying he had simply forgotten to call into dispatchers when he picked the woman up and where he dropped her off. Everett police detectives discovered that Lavely had falsified the record. Video footage showed the woman inside a convenience store at the time Lavely told a dispatcher he dropped her off at a bus stop.

Lavely was sentenced to a year in jail. He also must register as a sex offender for 10 years. The state Court of Appeals earlier this year upheld his conviction.

The Herald is not naming the woman, 32, to protect her identity as a crime victim.

Court records show that she has a warrant for her arrest for failing to meet the conditions of her sentence in a 2012 King County property crime case.

In Lavely’s criminal trial, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell told jurors Lavely targeted the victim because she was a homeless drug addict whom the officer believed was a prostitute.

The woman had been injured by Lynnwood police hours before her encounter with Lavely. Officers broke down the door to her motel room and arrested her for an outstanding warrant out of King County. She was thrown to the ground, where she hit her face and broke a tooth. Seattle police would not pick the woman up and Lynnwood officers declined to drive her to King County. She was released and cited for resisting arrest.

The city of Lynnwood is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, however, Jerry Baker, the woman’s attorney, said Friday that Lynnwood will be dropped from the case.

Lavely found the woman several hours after Lynnwood officers cited her. He escorted her from a motel room and drove her to a secluded location.

The lawsuit alleges that Edmonds failed to do a proper background check on Lavely, a former military police officer. It also claims that the city knew “Lavely was a sexual deviant and granted him access to female members of the public as well as the power to detain women.”

The cities are accused of ignoring “the very alarming culture and custom among their officers to cover up officer misconduct and to disregard the safety of female suspects.”

The lawsuit alleges that the May 7, 2012, assault could have been prevented if a Mountlake Terrace detective properly reported an allegation that Lavely had molested a young relative years ago.

A month before the incident in Edmonds someone came to the off-duty Mountlake Terrace detective to discuss an allegation against Lavely. The detective told the woman to file a report with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. He did not report the allegations, violating the department’s policy, according to a city memo. The detective was suspended for two days.

The detective ignored the report, “which would have prompted an investigation against (Lavely) and prevented him from being able to sexually assault (the plaintiff),” according to the lawsuit.

No trial date has been set.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.