A teen girl was sexually assaulted in the middle of the night earlier this month by a man who came into the home she shares with her family on Vashon, accord-ing to the King County Sheriff ’s Office.

Sheriff ’s deputies are actively investigating the report. Sgt. John Urquhart, a spokesman for the sher-iff ’s department, called it “a very sensitive case.”

Because it apparently occurred around 4 a.m., when ferries weren’t run-ning, investigators believe the suspect likely lives on Vashon, Urquhart added.

The suspect, he said, came in through an unlocked door. “It’s a very, very active case,” he said.

No one has been arrest-ed, but suspects have been identified, said Det. Sgt.

Tony Provenzo, one of the supervisors of the Sheriff ’s Department’s special assault unit.

“We have it narrowed down to some people, and we’re waiting for confirma-tion from DNA,” he said.

Because of backlogs at the state’s Crime Lab, it may be a few weeks before the DNA tests are completed, Provenzo said. He does

not believe the suspects pose a public safety threat but declined to elaborate, noting that the case is still under investigation.

The girl’s father said the family has begun locking the front and back door and has added a lock to their daughter’s bedroom door. He said she’s doing fairly well.

“She was pretty scared for

the first week,” he said.— Leslie Brown

By LESLIE BROWNStaff Writer

A spate of vandalism has hit at least two of Vashon’s parks in recent months, troubling those who stew-ard the Island resources.

The latest incident occurred last week, when someone slashed a laminat-ed map that had been posted a month earlier on a kiosk at the western entrance to Island Center Forest. People also recently dumped sev-eral old car parts — includ-ing an entire axel — at the 362-acre park, owned and managed by King County with support from several Island recreation groups.

And last month, people apparently attempted to start a fire in a barrel they dragged to a berm next to Mukai Pond, spilling diesel into the amphibian-rich pond in the process, said Joe Van Hollebeke, a park resource specialist for the county.

“We had to do an oil cleanup with our spill response kits,” he said.

The most serious inci-dents, meanwhile, have taken place at Dockton Park, also owned by King County, where there have been at least two arson attempts in

recent months. One of the arson attempts took place on Christmas day, when a boat where Lyman Houghton, a volunteer park caretaker, lived was set ablaze. The boat survived the attempt, but the smoke damage was extensive, and the boat is now unlivable, Houghton said.

Houghton was away from the boat at the time of the incident.

Someone last year also attempted to ignite the structure that houses the bathrooms at the park, he said. And there are black-

ened scars on the dock, sug-gesting someone may have tried to burn the moorings, too.

Houghton, who has been a park caretaker for two years, said Dockton is the site of a lot of nighttime activity, including drug transactions. King County Sheriff ’s deputies made a drug arrest there a few months ago, he said.

He estimated that he’s called 911 50 times in the last year and said he’s been physically assaulted twice. He believes the arson on his boat was an attempt at

retribution.“There have been a lot

of drug problems down there,” he said. “It’s not just kids, but adults, too.”

Last week, after the map was slashed at Island Center Forest, Van Hollebeke said he was frustrated and dis-appointed by the rash of incidents. It comes at the same time that the coun-ty and Island volunteers are working to improve access to the huge, for-ested area.

“We’re used to people parking at or near the parks and drinking and littering cans, and we pick

them up every day,” he said. “But lately, it’s just a little bit more malicious — like they’re showing contempt for the environment.”

David Warren, who’s active in the Friends of Island Center Forest, agreed.

“We all know that high school kids and young peo-ple need a place to get away. ... But this vandalism is dis-appointing,” he said.

Warren and Van Holl-ebeke are organizing a meeting where they’ll bring together county park offi-

cials, the sheriff ’s depart-ment, Vashon Park District officials, the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust and the Friends of Island Center Forest to see what they can do collectively to try to put an end to the vandalism.

David Kimmett, a proj-ect manager for the coun-ty parks division, said he hopes some focused atten-tion on the issue will lead

to some arrests or diminish the problem.

“This is little nickel and dime stuff, but it adds up. It takes a lot of staff time,” he said.

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Vandalism at Dockton Park, Island Center Forest raises concerns

Leslie Brown/staff Photo

Joe Van Hollebeke, left, and David Warren are frustrated by the vandalism at Island Center Forest.

Those who have informa-tion about vandalism at Vashon’s county-owned parks are encouraged to call David Kimmett at (206) 510-5668.

Girl assaulted in her home, authorities investigate