Gravelle pleads guilty to groping
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November 18, 2012 |
A Bonners Ferry man pled guilty Thursday to
voyeurism and three counts of fourth-degree
assault in the Benton County Courthouse,
Prosser, Washington, admitting a long-standing
"sexual problem" that led him to drive from here
to Benton County to live it out.
That's a 4 1/2-hour trip, one way, of about 250
miles.
According to the
Tri-City Herald, Jeffrey Paul
Gravelle, 41, Bonners Ferry, attended two
Hanford High School football games in September,
and managed to grope three cheerleaders,
reaching under their skirts and grabbing their
buttocks.
Several people witnessed these and other
encounters, and compared notes.
He was arrested September 15, after a Hanford
cheerleader spotted Gravelle in the stands and
told her mother, who called police. School
officials identified him as the man seen
loitering outside the girls' locker room during
a basketball game last February, and several
witnesses positively identified him and
recounted several additional suspicious
incidents, and a video that captured him trying
to take pictures of cheerleaders outside that
locker room confirmed suspicions.
Gravelle was released from the Benton County
jail on his own recognizance after Thursday's
hearing, pending sentencing tentatively set for
December 6, having already served the 60-day
sentence recommended by prosecutors. The maximum
sentence for the offenses he's pled guilty to is
90 days.
While his final sentence is pending, Gravelle
has already been told he's not allowed to attend
any more high school sporting events in Benton
County.
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