Two more accused of child sex abuse at religious home

Seattle Times/October 25, 2006
By Peyton Whitely

Two more men were charged with sexually abusing children at a religious home operated by a group that had sites in Bellevue and Sammamish.

The charges were brought against [Justin Anthony] Kirkland, 24, of Duvall, and Donovan Patrick Olsen, 20, originally of Tucson, Ariz.

Kirkland is charged with two counts of first-degree child rape. Olsen is charged with one count of first-degree child molestation and one count of second-degree child molestation.

According to the filings made Monday, the abuses took place at a religious seminary known as the "Tridentine Latin Rite Church," which had been on Northeast Sixth Street in Bellevue and later moved to an address on Southeast 39th Street in Sammamish.

The charges originated with investigations that date to 2004 and earlier.

Court documents have described the facilities as a "religious home," and other accounts have described the operations as being part of a sect that broke away from the Catholic Church. Sect members first worshipped in a church using the name Tridentine Latin Rites, according to 2002 Seattle Times reports.

In the latest charges, Kirkland is accused of raping a child between 1996 and 1999.

The assaults began when the boy was 6 or 7, court documents say, and both Kirkland and the child were living in the seminary in the 15000 block of Northeast Sixth Street in Bellevue.

The boy said the assaults began when he would be taken to a bathroom and continued until he left the seminary when he was 14, according to court documents.

Olsen is accused of child molestation between 1998 and 2004 in one count and between 2003 and 2005 in a second count.

Court documents contend that the assaults began when one of Olsen's victims was 6 or 7 and the other was 13 and the victims and Olsen all lived at the seminary.

The younger victim said the incidents began at the Bellevue address and continued when the seminary moved to Sammamish.

Arraignments for the defendants are set for Monday in King County Superior Court. Kirkland has been released on his personal recognizance, according to court records; bail of $50,000 was asked for Olsen, who is at large.

Two other defendants were charged with child molestation in September, following earlier charges brought in 2004. Both are awaiting trial.

The most recent investigations began after a woman in April 2004 told Bellevue police that her son had been sexually abused while living at the Bellevue home.