$3 Million Bail for Seattle Lawyer Suspected in 3 Rapes; Defense Lawyer Calls It a Misunderstanding
Updated: Bail has been set at $3 million for a Seattle lawyer who is suspected in three sexual assaults, two of them at area massage clinics.
Formal charges are expected Thursday against Danford D. Grant, a partner at Bailey Grant Onsager in Seattle who once worked at the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, KIRO reported. Prosecutor Val Richey requested the bail amount—$1 million for each alleged victim—at a hearing Wednesday afternoon, the Seattle Times reported.
Grant’s defense lawyer, David Allen called the $3 million bail amount “extraordinary” and had asked the judge for $150,000 and home monitoring at Wednesday’s hearing. But King County District Court Judge Mark Chow granted the state’s request.
According to King County Prosecutor’s Office documents, Grant paid for a massage at the Carnation Massage Clinic on Sept. 19, and then raped an employee there once he was in a private room, KIRO reported. Documents say that Monday, Grant again paid for a massage and assaulted the same employee a second time. The employee was on the phone when Grant first entered, and the employee told the person she was on the phone with to call the owner, who soon headed to the clinic with two friends and called 911, the Seattle Times and KCPQ reported. According to the probable-cause statement, the Seattle Times reported, the employee called the owner again after the assault but before Grant left. The trio arrived before Grant left and tried to detain him but were unable to do so; police arrested Grant a few blocks away.
Allen told the Seattle Times that the arrest was a result of a misunderstanding. “They were threatening to hurt [Grant],” Allen told KING 5. “He was glad when the police showed up. He thought it was a mistake.”
Police in suburban Bellevue said Grant is a suspect in an Aug. 28 sexual assault of a massage therapist there, too. According to the probable-cause statement, after Grant’s arrest, a clinic employee told police about a third alleged victim, a massage therapist working out of her home. A detective then interviewed the woman with the help of an interpreter. She told police Grant forced himself into her home and raped her Aug. 19, the Seattle Times reported.
Hat tip: Daily Mail.
Updated Sept. 27 to include updated information from Wednesday’s court hearing and prosecution documents.
