Bellevue Police Chief “Vindicated” After Allegations Of Sexual Assault Led To Criminal Probe
After two months of Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett was accused of sexual assault and placed on administrative leave, a Bothell police investigation has cleared him of any wrongdoing, having found no substantial evidence that he knew the accuser, according to a news release.
Mylett, in an emotional statement at Bellevue City Hall Tuesday afternoon said “there was fear, there was anxiety” but that he was always confident his name would be cleared.”
“From the beginning, I had confidence that the process would work and the facts and evidence would lead to my vindication, and that is exactly what happened,” Mylett said during the news conference.
“Investigators concluded there was no probable cause to show that Mr. Mylett committed any crime,” according to a news release posted Monday on the city of Bothell’s website. “In addition, there was no substantiated evidence to prove there was ever any contact between the complainant and Mr. Mylett.”
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View full police report:
https://www.bothellwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7698/Case-18-17372?bidId=
On Monday, Mylett was reinstated as police chief, according to a Bellevue news release.
Mylett had been placed on paid administrative leave in early August after the woman claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the police chief. The 44-year-old Issaquah woman alleged the incident happened two years earlier in Bothell, which is why the Bothell Police Deparment led the criminal investigation.
In an August interview, Mylett said that he was not aware of the nature of the allegation against him and added he hadn’t committed any crimes or offenses, whatsoever, except for a few minor traffic violations.
“I don’t even know what the allegation is,” he said at the time, “but I have faith that the Bothell Police Department will do a thorough investigation and that the truth will come out, whatever it is.”
“I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody,” Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett told reporters during a Tuesday afternoon news conference to announce his reinstatement to the job.
“I was shocked because I’ve never met this person,” Mylett said Tuesday. “I had no idea why she would make the accusations that she made.”
The investigation into Mylett was a result of statements and texts -made by the same woman – during a separate investigation of Bellevue Police Officer John Kivlin.
Although Kivlin and another Bellevue police officer were found to have had contact with the woman, neither was ever charged with a crime. The officers are no longer employed by the Bellevue Police Department.
“Both officers resigned,” Mylett said when asked about their possible return to the force. “I think they are moving forward as well. We wish them the best of luck and that’s where I’ll leave the answer.”
According to an investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office, the woman has a history of seeking out men on Craigslist, then falsely reporting consensual encounters as a crime to police. According to sheriff’s detectives, she has made false rape accusations at least twice previously.
Monday, Bothell police made details of the investigation public for the first time.
The accuser claimed to have met Mylett on a fetish website for people seeking “aggressive” sex. She claims they agreed to meet in October or November off 2016 for an encounter that involved bondage, but no intercourse, according to the police report.
She alleged that Mylett broke that boundary set in advance and sexually assaulted her. She provided Bothell police with the address of a home that Mylett and his wife had rented in 2016 and claimed the assault happened there.
As evidence of the alleged assault, the woman turned the underwear she supposedly wore during their encounter over to Bothell police, the report said.
A DNA test later showed that not only was the woman’s DNA on the underwear, but so was the DNA of three individuals – none of which belonged to that of Mylett, according to the police report. A WSP Lab Report “showed Mylett was excluded as a donor” to the sperm found in the accusers underwear.
“I was shocked by some of the lengths that this individual went to,” Mylett said.
Bothell police were also able to determine that Mylett and his wife were not living in the rental home during the time of the alleged assault.
Police investigators believe the woman could be mentally ill, but regardless of her mental state, she still may be charged with tampering with evidence, perjury, and making false statements. The King County Prosecutor’s Office is currently exploring its options.
“This was by no stretch of the imagination a vacation,” he said. “There was a lot of things that my wife and I discussed and dealt with — the what ifs and everything else — and there was fear. There was anxiety, culminating with tremendous relief and gratitude that the members of the Bothell Police Department did such an exceptional job in rooting out the truth.”
“I think people should be held accountable for their actions,” Mylett responded when asked about it. “I think the process of the claims that were made against me worked, and I think another process will take place and I’m confident the right decisions will be made.”
Mylett stated that having been falsely accused of a crime, “I have a deeper appreciation of what it means to be falsely accused,” he said.
“It will make me a better a better chief and a better human being.”
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