By Dennis Box and Ray Still
Editor
Maple Valley resident Kevin Dale Best was arrested Feb. 20 during a sting operation in Lynnwood for child sex crimes.
Best, 42, was charged with one count of first-degree attempted rape of a child and one count of commercial sexual abuse of a minor Feb. 23 in Snohomish County District Court.
The Washington State Patrol Missing and Exploited Children Task Force sting spanned about a week. Along with Best, five other men were arrested and charged; three were from Snohomish County and two from King County.
According to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office charging documents, Best is employed by the Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue. Best’s LinkedIn site states he is a firefighter/emergency medical technician and has been employed by Central Kitsap since 2004.
Best is incarcerated in the Snohomish County jail. His bail is set at $500,000.
According to charging documents, Best is alleged to have emailed undercover detective Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez Dec. 20, 2015 in response to a Craigslist ad placed Dec. 17 by the detective.
The Washington State Patrol detective was posing as a mother with three children – a 12-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy.
The ad stated: “Looking for close family connections – 2 dau,(daughter) 1 son – w4w. The document stated w4w, “means a woman looking for a woman.”
When Best began responding the detective wrote, “…. i must be very discreet.”
Best wrote, “I agree! Can’t ruin our lives for living the way we want! Until we trust each other for now this is all fantasy and not real:-) what all are you into?”
The detective replied, “well im not into fantasy …”
Best’s reply was, “Yeah me either hehe text me anytime….”
The conversation between the detective and Best continued through emails, texts and telephone calls from December through February when Best was arrested.
The report stated Best asked if there were any other, “families and that he had one other family that he plays with. They (the detective and Best) discussed how hard it was to find real people. He (Best) told me the best place to find like-minded families was at a nudist resort that he attends.”
The charging document also stated, “He again said that he liked to say everything is a fantasy until he knew the person was real.”
According to the charging document Best was recorded speaking on the phone with two undercover detectives, which is allowed under state law for child sex crimes. One detective posed as a mother and the other a 12-year-old girl. The document stated Best discussed sexual acts with both.
The superform report stated he sent a picture of himself from a fireman’s calendar during the phone conversation with the two detectives and stated he would give them a tour of the fire station.
On Feb. 20 Rodriguez told Best to go buy drinks at a Starbucks, which was close to the spot where he was arrested. When Best arrived with the drinks he was arrested without incident.
Best requested an attorney and his only statement was that it was all fantasy.
