Rape, kidnapping charges dismissed against Kirkland man

Article here. Excerpt:

'Rape, kidnapping and assault charges filed against a 22-year-old Kirkland man were recently dropped by King County prosecutors after a Kirkland police detective found evidence on the man’s cellphone that led investigators to believe his sexual encounter with an 18-year-old Tacoma woman was consensual.

The case was covered by media outlets including The Seattle Times following Thomas Brownlee’s arrest on Aug. 30.

The charges were dismissed Jan. 12 based on electronic communications between Brownlee and the woman, according to court records and Senior Deputy Prosecutor Emily Petersen.

“The nature of those conversations is that she agreed to participate in what I would describe as a rape fantasy,” Petersen said Thursday. “Based on those conversations we no longer believed that a crime occurred.”
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After the detective reviewed Snapchat conversations preserved on Brownlee’s phone, he immediately contacted Petersen, she said. That was on Jan. 7. The following day, Petersen notified Brownlee’s defense attorneys that the state was dismissing the charges.

“The conversation led us to believe the encounter, including the sexual encounter, was consensual and planned. Her credibility was undermined to such a degree that we did not feel that we could move forward with the case,” Petersen said.'