A man accused of inappropriately touching a 12-year-old girl at a Halloween party in Centralia in 2022 and sexually assaulting the same girl in 2018 is now in custody at the Lewis County Jail for first-degree attempted child molestation and fourth-degree assault charges.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager issued a $100,000 arrest warrant for the man, identified as Zachary Schott, 32, of Port Angeles, on Sept. 14. Schott turned himself in on Oct. 2 and was booked into the Lewis County Jail just after 7:20 p.m. that day.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges on Tuesday, Oct. 3. A hearing to set trial dates is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Yeagher ruled Tuesday to maintain the $100,000 bail set in the warrant, saying she found Schott to be “a significant risk to reoffend or a significant risk to community safety.”
The Centralia Police Department, the Port Angeles Police Department, the Kent Police Department and Pierce County law enforcement were all involved in the investigation, according to court documents.
Schott is also facing first-degree rape and first-degree child molestation charges out of King County due to similar alleged offenses.
In a March interview with Kent police, Schott allegedly admitted to committing the sexual assault that occurred in 2018, “mentioned the Halloween party in 2022 and provided an account that matched almost entirely with (the victim’s),” and additionally “said that he was a ‘child molester’ and deserved to go to prison for ‘three to four years,’” according to court documents.
Yeagher said Tuesday that Schott’s alleged confession “gives me a lot of concern about community safety.”
A no-contact order protecting the girl is in place.
