Suspect in jogger attacks ordered to stay out of King County parks

MrTicklefeet · Feb 21, 2011

Another sensually deprived person acting out makes the local news. This was from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014177174_joggerattacks10m.html

By Jennifer Sullivan

Seattle Times staff reporter.

Duane E. Starkenburg, 46, is charged with assaulting three women in West Seattle's Lincoln Park is arraigned in King County Superior Court on Wednesday.
A Seattle man suspected of attacks on three women joggers in West Seattle's Lincoln Park has been ordered to stay out of all parks and jogging trails within King County.

Duane E. Starkenburg, 46, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of indecent liberties in connection with attacks in August and December, and to one count of attempted indecent liberties in a Jan. 25 attack. He remains out of custody on $175,000 bail.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Julie Kays told Superior Court Judge Ronald Kessler she is concerned about community safety and asked that Starkenburg be banned from parks. The judge agreed and ordered him to stay out of all King County public parks and "rail-to-trail-type" jogging paths such as the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Defense lawyer Tim Leary said his client declined to comment Wednesday about the charges. Leary said Starkenburg has already been banned from Lincoln Park, where all three assaults occurred.

His next court appearance is in March.

In the 2010 incidents, the attacker came up from behind two victims, pretended to trip, grabbed the women's hips, then buried his face between their buttocks, according to the Seattle police report. Both women were able to fight the man off and flee.

Just before 4 p.m. Jan. 25, a 27-year-old woman was jogging on the waterfront trail in Lincoln Park, in the 8000 block of Fauntleroy Way Southwest. According to police, a man ran up behind her and attempted to tackle her, throwing his arms around her legs. The woman, who was not injured, was able to break free and get away.

Starkenburg was arrested as he attempted to cross Fauntleroy Way Southwest, according to police.

After the arrest, the victims in the 2010 attacks identified him in a photo montage, according to the police report.

Starkenburg told reporters after his arrest that he was innocent. He claims he slipped and fell into the woman in the January incident.

"It's not like I'm this guy who puts on makeup and is running around attacking women," he told reporters.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Yes, he said he tripped, and fell into their butts, twice. Trouble was, after he was let go after his arrest, he was gleefully talking with reporters who ran the footage on the local news. He talked about how beautiful women look, and dress when their out jogging. Of course he's going to look. I'm sure he just made his defense lawyer's job tougher when he makes his next appearance in court in March.

MrTicklefeet · Sep 18, 2013

Update: 9 years in prison for assaulting joggers in W. Seattle park.

A man who pleaded guilty to a series of attacks in which he grabbed female joggers and buried his face in their buttocks in West Seattle's Lincoln Park was sentenced Friday to just over nine years in prison.

By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter

A man who admitted to a series of attacks in which he grabbed female joggers and buried his face in their buttocks in West Seattle's Lincoln Park was sentenced Friday to just over nine years in prison.

Duane E. Starkenburg, 47, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree assault with sexual motivation for assaulting three joggers in August and December 2010 and January 2011. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree child molestation in an unrelated case.

In court Friday, Starkenburg shielded his face from a television camera and declined to comment. He did not speak.

As part of the sentence, he will have to register as a sex offender once he's released.

Tim Leary, the man's defense lawyer, said the sentence was agreed upon with the prosecution. Had the case gone to trial, Starkenburg could have faced a standard-range sentence of nearly 26 years.

"You never know what a jury is going to do," Leary said.

In the August 2010 attack, a woman said a man grabbed her hips and planted his face in her buttocks while she jogged in the park, according to a Seattle police report. The woman told police the man said it was an accident.

In the December 2010 attack, a woman told police she was walking up some stairs to the parking lot in Lincoln Park when a man asked for her help, saying he had injured his shin. She let him hold on to her shoulder and helped him up, the report says.

As they reached a landing, "the man got behind the woman and grabbed her by the hips," it says. The woman screamed as he pushed his face into her buttocks, according to the report.

The man claimed it was an accident.

The most recent attack happened just before 4 p.m. Jan. 25, 2011, as a 27-year-old woman was jogging on Lincoln Park's waterfront trail. She told police a man ran up behind her and attempted to tackle her, throwing his arms around her legs. The woman, who was not injured, was able to break free and get away.

Starkenburg was arrested a short time later as he attempted to cross Fauntleroy Way Southwest, according to police.

Following Starkenburg's arrest, the two other women identified him from a photo montage, police said.

The child-molestation charge stems from the follow-up investigation into the Lincoln Park attacks.

A Seattle police detective interviewed a woman who claimed Starkenburg had molested her daughter when the girl was 9 or 10. The victim, now 20, told detectives Starkenburg offered "a massage" and then molested her.

Information from Seattle Times archives.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2017978080_joggerattacks14m.html