Former school security guard charged with rape
Walla Walla County WA May 2 2020
A former security officer at Lincoln High School has been charged with first- degree sexual misconduct with a minor and summoned to appear May 11 in Walla Walla County Superior Court.
Chavis R. Harris Jr., 29, of Walla Walla, was charged April 20 after detectives investigated allegations of a May 2019 rape of a student first reported last June.
Harris was a campus security guard at Lincoln from August 2017 to October 2019, according to Mark Higgins, director of communications for the Walla Walla School District. No information was provided about why Harris’ employment there ended.
The allegation came to light when the student, now 19, told a trusted adult that Harris raped her and made inappropriate sexual comments to her. That person reported it to a school administrator, and a report followed to the Walla Walla Police Department on June 14, 2019.
Harris also allegedly made inappropriate comments to her at the high school, and she stopped attending school for a while.
According to information filed in court, the teen was told to ride with the school’s intervention specialist on May 23, 2019, but the specialist was unavailable, so Harris drove her instead. It was then the alleged rape occurred, records stated.
Surveillance camera footage reportedly showed the two together. Harris denied having sex with the teen or making explicit comments.
Forensic examinations reportedly show Harris used a third-party application to message and call the teenager, records stated.
