Four students at Mount Rainier High School are accused of raping two 15-year-old girls while they were on an overnight school trip, according to documents released by the King County prosecutor’s office.
Charging documents show two of the suspects are 17 years old and the other two suspects are 18 years old.
Police say the incident happened after the suspects invited the girls to attend an after-hours party in October. The teens were staying at a Seattle hotel for a leadership conference.
The suspects gave the girls alcohol before they took turns raping them, police and prosecutors said.
The police incident report describes the girls being given a shot described as about 3 inches of alcohol. One of the victims told police she felt "totally out of it" after the drink, and when she walked around she could not keep herself up.
Police reports say both of the girls had rape kits done the next day.
The King County prosecutor is accusing the teens of rape in the third degree, according to charging documents.
The 18-year-old suspects, Keegan Tarabochia, who also uses the last name Piper, and Donnie Moore are charged as adults. They also face charges of supplying liquor to minors.
Highline School District says it cooperated with police during the investigation.
“I can’t speak to any actions in relation to this case,” Highline Public Schools spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers told KIRO 7 News when she was asked if overnight field trip polices have changed.
The spokeswoman later provided a form chaperones have to sign before they go on trips. That form outlines rules that make sure kids stay in their rooms during certain hours, and it includes a requirement for regular bed checks.
The more detailed policy raises questions of whether the chaperones followed the policies. The spokeswoman would not elaborate.
“As soon as we learned of these allegations from Seattle authorities, we did take action to make sure all students at Mount Rainier are safe [and] that their well-being is attended to,” Carbone Rogers said.
In charging documents, Seattle detective Michael Moore wrote that the two rape suspects charged as adults and one of the rape suspects charged as a juvenile were interviewed by school staff prior to law enforcement.
Cox Media Group
