Man charged with raping prostitute the day after his release from jail

SEATTLE — A Seattle man is charged with first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment after allegedly raping a prostitute, holding her captive and threatening her with a knife just one day after his release from King County Jail.

The suspect has been identified in court documents as Marquin E. Robinson. Seattle police investigators in the high risk victims unit believe he may be connected to two other recent rape cases involving prostitutes.

Robinson was convicted in June 2017 for domestic violence, assault and imprisonment and was sentenced to 17 months in jail, with 12 months of Department of Corrections supervision, though offenders usually get time reductions for good behavior in prison and credit for time served.

He was released from King County Jail on Feb. 2, 2018, after serving a 15-day sentence for a DOC violation.

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According to court documents, the victim in the most recent case reported the rape and assault the next day.

She told police the suspect picked her up in a blue minivan around 8 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2018, while she was working as a prostitute on Aurora Avenue North. He allegedly drove her to a nearby church parking lot, where he ordered her to climb into the back of his van.

According to court documents, the victim asked him to go into the backseat first. She reportedly said, “it’s not you, it’s me, I’ve just had a bad experience before.” She told investigators that’s when he pulled out a large kitchen knife from the driver's’ seat and said, “well you’re about to have another one.”

The woman told police he forced her to remove her clothes and she asked him not to hurt her. She said she was scared and tried to “get on a personal level” with him and she did what he asked because she feared for her life.

Court documents state that he raped and assaulted her multiple times in the van with the knife in his hand.

After some time, the woman said some people walked by the vehicle and told them to move. According to court documents, Robinson allegedly forced her to keep her clothes off and lie down in the back of the van so no one could see her while he drove down Aurora Avenue North.

At one point, she told police she asked the man why he was doing this. He allegedly told her that he had gotten burned before, and “she was the unlucky one today.”

According to court documents, he eventually let her get dressed and she was able to escape.

Seattle detectives connected the blue minivan with two rape cases involving prostitutes with similar stories and suspect description. Robinson’s DOC officer also confirmed he drove a blue minivan.

The victim also identified Robinson as her attacker from a police photo lineup.

According to investigators, three prostitutes reported similar assaults during a time that Robinson was out of jail. No assaults with the same description occurred while he was in jail.

The DOC officer told investigators Robinson was also recently involved in a domestic assault with his girlfriend.

On Feb. 7, detectives located Robinson’s blue minivan parked outside of his girlfriend’s house and set up surveillance outside the home.

Police took him into custody when he left the home to meet with his parole officer.

Prosecutors argued that Robinson’s extensive criminal history demonstrates that if he is released from police custody, he is likely to violently hurt someone again.

In addition to his recent conviction, Robinson has also been convicted of first-degree assault, felony domestic violence, theft, violation of a protection order and harassment. He also has been convicted of hit-and-run and battery in California.

He is currently behind bars in King County on $750,000 bail.

Cox Media Group