YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 16-year-old accused of raping a jogger on the Yakima Greenway last November is now suspected in the rape of a second woman and attempted rape of a third.
Authorities say they expect to file charges against the teenager after DNA linked him to a rape and assault of a woman on a trail near Powerhouse Road in March 2017.
Authorities have also refiled earlier charges against him stemming from the attempted rape of a woman near the Greenway in May 19, 2017. Those charges had been dropped after investigators say they were unable to find the woman, who they described as homeless and uncooperative.
Investigators still haven鈥檛 located the woman, but prosecutors say evidence from the two other cases pushed them to refile the charge.
Bail was originally set at $200,000 for the teenager when he was accused of the Nov. 22 rape near the Greenway path south of Sarg Hubbard Park. But during a Tuesday hearing in Yakima County Juvenile Court, the teenager鈥檚 bail was raised to $300,000.
Whether the cases will be tried in juvenile court remains to be determined.
鈥淏ased on everything we know so far, we would like to treat him as an adult,鈥 said Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic. 鈥淢y
No. 1 concern, obviously, is public safety and to represent the alleged victims in court.鈥
With three known victims of sexual assault, Brusic said it鈥檚 important to him to push the teenager to be tried as an adult in Superior Court, where the punishments for a conviction are typically more severe than juvenile court.
The teenager is set to be arraigned on the new charges Monday, but a hearing to determine whether he鈥檒l be tried as an adult isn鈥檛 scheduled until March.
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