UPDATE - Julian Willis Felony Charges Filed, Disgraced Coach Facing 15 Years + Sex Offender Registry (Conditions of Release Added, no paywall)
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UPDATE - Julian Willis Felony Charges Filed, Disgraced Coach Facing 15 Years + Sex Offender Registry (Conditions of Release Added, no paywall)
The "threat to society" with rape accusations across the west faces serious charges backed by DNA-linked evidence. The former Kamiak coach's arraignment on three minor-involved sex crimes is Oct. 30
WATCH: Julian Willis filmed suggestive TikToks from the very portable classrooms where stains on the carpet would link Willis to alleged sex crimes with a minor student.
Willis Hit With Three Felonies, Arraignment Oct. 30
EVERETT, Wash. — In June, prosecutors called Julian Willis a “threat to the public,” a flight risk, and a named suspect in rape charges across three states.
He’s been described by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab as a likely DNA match — a match, that is, to material collected from floor stains… where the former teacher apparently slopped his bodily fluids onto the carpet — while attempting to have sex with a minor student — during his work day as a substitute teacher.
A Mukilteo detective called Willis “a significant threat to the public, particularly against those in vulnerable environments, given the historical extent of his predatory behavior and his blatant disregard for the rule of law.” 1
And yet with all that said, until recently, Willis could also be called a free man, unrestricted by charges or conditions of release. All that changed earlier this month.
After years of evading prosecution for repeated allegations of rape and sexual misconduct, it appears Julian Willis will finally face justice.
The former Kamiak High School assistant football coach faces three new felony charges of sexual misconduct with a minor, filed in Snohomish County earlier this month.
The crimes referenced in the charges are familiar to those who've followed this matter.
A quick recap: Willis was fired from Kamiak High School in May the same day J425 broke the news that he was under investigation for felony sex crimes. Willis was arrested in June after Mukilteo police substantiated five charges of sexual misconduct with a minor student.
Two of those instances occurred inside Kamiak portables, on school days. And after the victim detailed the location of these instances, police identified Willis’ genetic material on the classroom carpets, rolled up the rugs and shipped them off to the state patrol for genetic matching. The data came back in late June, identifying Willis as a likely match.
Willis was arrested in Lake Stevens prior to the July 4th weekend and a judge found probable cause for the charges in question, but after posting $7500 bond, Willis was released. Less than a week later, the charges and conditions of release expired when Snohomish County Prosecutors missed a deadline to file charges.
Conditions of Release Requested
Prosecutors said that as long as Willis shows up to his arraignment, the state won’t object to his release on personal recognizance with with conditions and a Sexual Assault Protection Order.
The PA is seeking more protection than previously requested, asking the court to bar Willis from speaking to any minor children and barring him from sports and school events.
State will also ask the court to order the defendant:
no violations of law,
no contact with any of the state’s witnesses except through counsel,
no contact with minor children except his own children and
to not attend school or school-sporting events unless they directly involve his biological children and he is supervised by his wife, Rylie Willis.
Kamiak: Who Knew What When? And Why the False Statements to Police and Public?
“Although initial reports noted that a community member reported the allegation of inappropriate relations with a student to the school, interviews confirmed that Damon Terry, another assistant coach on the football team, reported the allegations to Bryant Thomas, Dean of Students and head football coach. Damon (Terry) had overheard
rumors throughout the football season1 from players of some potentially inappropriate relationship between Julian and a student,” - Detective Ofori, Snohomish County Superior Court filings.
As Willis was slipping free of any law enforcement oversight, investigators were filing documents that raised questions about the level of transparency and accountability inside the Kamiak football program and adminstration.
To put it bluntly, investigators said that at the start of the investigation, they’d been given bad information by Kamiak officials. At the root of the matter was an anonymous external tip received by former Kamiak football coach and Dean of Students Bryant Thomas. In the initial timeline of events provided to media, the district first learned of Willis’ improper conduct in late March, when an external tipster called Thomas in his role as Dean and blew the whistle on Willis.
This anecdote always seemed suspect and J425 mentioned it in our initial reporting, but we had no proof. However, in briefing the court on their investigation, Mukilteo police stated that the initial information provided by Kamiak regarding an anonymous tip was just flat wrong. We’ll just quote the cops here.
“Although initial reports noted that a community member reported the allegation of inappropriate relations with a student to the school, interviews confirmed that Damon Terry, another assistant coach on the football team, reported the allegations to Bryant Thomas, Dean of Students and head football coach,” Mukilteo Police Detective Eric Ofori stated in investigative documents filed June 28 in Snohomish County Court.
“Damon (Terry) had overheard rumors throughout the football season1 from players of some potentially inappropriate relationship between Julian and a student,” Detective Ofori told the court.
Further, a little digging revealed that as opposed to an anonymous external tip, the initial report of Willis’ misconduct had come from inside the football program, from an adult coach, who — according to MPD — made the complaint to Bryant Thomas as required by law.
The Mukilteo PD investigatory report states that the victim herself informed a senior captain of the football team of what Willis had done to her in November of 2022.
From there, the assistant coach learned of the serious allegations, and passed the information onto Thomas.
The point in time when an adult became aware of rumors or evidence of Willis’ predatory behavior is important for two reasons: It’s morally important because adults are supposed to act when they find out predators are preying on minors.
And it’s legally important because under Washington State’s mandatory reporting laws, school officials have just 48 hours to turn any pertinent information (even if its just an unsubstantiated rumor) over the both law enforcement and adminstration.
The reporting clock is compressed because there’s no time to waste when we learn an adult predator is harming a child. An adult who failed to pass the information on as required could face serious civil and even criminal penalties depending on the level on the particulars.
With that said, the fact that a former football coach may have run afoul of mandatory reporting deadlines….the fact that someone lied to police, media and the public about who just whom reported Willis and when the report was made….this stuff is largely irrelevant to J425 compared to the giant practical failure that resulted from these lapses in honesty and policy.
Put it this way. If the adults who learned about Willis’ misconduct had done what they were supposed to do, they couldve stopped four of the five felony sex crimes from occuring. In other words, the victim told the football captain after the first instance of abuse. The assistant coach learned of Willis’ misconduct when just one of the five crimes had occurred, and presumably — so did Thomas.
J425 doesn’t know why so much effort was made to mislead the public about the when information about Willis came to the district’s attention. It’s clear enough that citing an unverifiable external tip received some five months after the actual reporting date is just a transparent attempt to restart the mandatory reporting clock and clear themselves of wrongdoing. In other words it’s just another faiure in leadership. When the absolute worst things are happening to kids, we’ve got adults sitting on the information that could stop a predator for five months before misleading police and the public in what can only be an attempt to save ones own skin or perhaps deflect attention away from certain athletic programs.
Don’t process all of the above as J425 passing judgement. We’re not. We’re reporting that investigators flat out said that the information given about the source of the Willis tip was a lie. If that’s not a massive problem for students, parents, administrators — if that’s not an issue that’s already been the subject of community meetings and internal policy reviews — not to mention some just good old fashioned internal moral inventories — then I genuinely fear for the mission integrity of the district. If a five month delay in reporting ongoing felony sex crimes against a minor student isn’t a red-alert all-hands-on-deck problem than one wonders what is considered vital.
As we wrote before, this is a matter for the Kamiak and Mukilteo SD communities to figure out on your own. We can’t sit here being upset on everyone else’s behalf. We can just stress the facts and strongly encourage transparency on the part of district officials and energy and purpose for the district constituents. Get up and get off your butt and ask the district to answer this question: with regard to the Julian Willis matter, who knew what when, who did they tell, what actions were taken. Until these basic facts are ascertained everything else should probably take a back seat. It’s high time to reset the urgency level with repect to protecting kids from predators and for holding those in power responsible for upholding the basic trust the community grants them.
A Kamiak High School student sent J425 the above video, stating that it was going around social media quite a bit among the student body. The video features Julian Willis in a classroom, sent from Willis’ since- shuttered TikTok account.
UPDATE - Julian Willis Felony Charges Filed, Disgraced Coach Facing 15 Years + Sex Offender Registry (Conditions of Release Added, no paywall)
May justice be served. I hope that the rule of law is respected and upheld.