Cory Higgins makes his first appearance in September 2019 on child rape charges in Lewis County Superior Court.
A Chehalis man accused of raping and molesting three children with his significant other did not admit to committing any crimes at his “Alford plea” hearing on Wednesday, but did admit that the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office has the evidence to prove he is guilty at trial to several charges he faces.
Cory C. Higgins, 28, made an “Alford plea” at his hearing on Wednesday to charges of first-degree child molestation, third-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangerment, according to court documents.
The “Alford plea” is more or less a guilty plea, however the defendant does not actually admit guilt to the criminal act, rather, admits that the evidence put forth by the prosecutor would likely persuade a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty of the criminal acts beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to county Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer, it is a strategy that allows a defendant to take advantage of a plea agreement while maintaining their opinion that they did not commit any crimes.
“Basically what he is saying is, ‘I’m not saying I did it. Yeah, I would be convicted and I am doing this just to take advantage of the plea agreement,” Meyer said.
Higgins’ then-significant other, Celeste Stellwag, 25, of Centralia, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child molestation on Feb. 7.
Stellwag’s defense counsel asked for her to to be evaluated for a special sex offender sentencing alternative (SSOSA) and in August was found to be eligible, according to court documents.
Because of the SSOSA, Stellwag avoided going to prison and instead is serving a lifetime community custody sentence, which is how Washington state refers to parole.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police found out about the couple sexually abusing children when Higgins was arrested in August of 2019.
On Aug. 19, Lewis County Sheriff’s deputies found three children — ages 7, 5 and 2 — throwing sticks at each other in Scheuber Road outside of Higgins’ fifth wheel home.
The three children were noted as being extremely dirty and were placed in protective custody with Child Protective Services while Higgins was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment and assault.
With CPS, a worker observed bruises on the 7-year-old and asked the child where they came from. The child said the bruises came from Higgins, who would hit the child with a belt.
Additional interviews with the children revealed more allegations of Higgins physically and sexually assaulting the three kids, according to the affidavit.
In September, police came to believe that Stellwag had also sexually assaulted the 7-year-old and 5-year-old.
Higgins is currently in the custody of the Lewis County Jail and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9.
