Onalaska Sex Offender Accused of Impregnating 11-Year-Old Girl

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An Onalaska man has been accused of raping an 11-year-old multiple times between January 2020 and July 2021. 

The defendant, 58-year-old Gerald Lee King, was arrested after the victim’s mother reported the victim was pregnant. 

When speaking to detectives, the victim reported that King had physically restrained and raped her several times, with the first incident occurring shortly before her 11th birthday. 

King allegedly “told (the victim) he would die if she told anyone what happened” and she told detectives “she had a difficult time telling anyone because she didn’t want anyone to die,” according to court documents. 

A medical appointment on July 16 confirmed the victim was 14 weeks pregnant, and the victim’s mother contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to report the sexual assault. 

When he was contacted by detectives on June 23, King initially said “they were lying about him sexually assaulting (the victim),” but after detectives informed him they’d be performing a DNA analysis, he allegedly admitted “it happened multiple times” but claimed “he didn’t instigate anything.” 

When speaking to detectives, King allegedly “said things to the detectives about wanting the detectives to just shoot him, that he should have just killed himself, that he doesn’t want to go to court and that he wants the death penalty,” according to court documents. 



Based on those comments, Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher told Judge James Lawler that King was “a real threat to law enforcement.”

King was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 9:15 a.m. on July 23 and has been charged with four counts of first-degree rape of a child, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and fines up to $50,000.

Detectives later reported King was a level one registered sex offender due to 1998 conviction on first-degree attempt to commit sexual abuse in Oregon. He was convicted in Lewis County in 2009 for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of Washington. 

Lewis County Superior Court temporarily set King’s bail at $250,000 over the weekend until he could make his preliminary appearance in court on July 26. During the hearing, Meagher requested that Lawler double the temporary bail amount, while defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked Lawler to lower bail to no more than $50,000 due to King’s financial inability to pay a high bail amount. 

Lawler opted to maintain that $250,000 bail amount. 

“I believe that’s sufficient,” he said. 

King’s next scheduled court appearance is an arraignment hearing on July 29.