Kent man sentenced to 7 years in prison for rape in park

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A 36-year-old Kent man was sentenced in federal court Monday to more than seven years in prison for raping a 14-year-old girl in 2020 in Olympic National Park.

Christopher James Kuna will be required to register as a sex offender once he has served his 87-month prison term, Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said in a press release. He’ll also be on 15 years of supervised release, she said.

Kuna was at a gathering of family and friends in the park when he gave the girl alcohol and then sexually assaulted her, Gorman said. A family friend later helped the family report the incident to law enforcement.

“It is hard to describe a more serious case than this,” U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said at the sentencing. “The rape of a 14-year-old. The facts are egregious. The victim has a life sentence and that cannot be changed.”