Former city council member found guilty

EPHRATA - A former Ephrata city councilmember was convicted of raping two granddaughters between 1995 and 2004.

A jury found Jack G. Jones, 64, Soap Lake, guilty of two counts of rape of a child in the first degree in Grant County Superior Court.

This is the second time Jones has been tried, a September 2010 trial resulted in a mistrial after the jury couldn't reach a decision, according to court records.

The accusations against Jones started in 2004, when his then 12-year-old granddaughter accused him of molesting her starting when she was 5 or 6 years old, according to an Ephrata police report. The victim told police the abuse occurred between April 1997 and April 2004.

In the report, she related one incident where Jones attacked her when she was coming out of the shower at his house, according to the police report.

Police reported the case was dropped after the victim's father, who she also accused, took a polygraph test and police couldn't find Jones to question him, according to the police report.

The accusations resurfaced in 2008 when another of Jones' granddaughters told police he molested her between June 1995 and June 1999, according to court records.

The victim said Jones took her to a motorhome, where he molested her, according to the police report. She also said he molested her while he was driving a car and she was a passenger. He told the victim not to look at a police car following them because it might attract attention, according to the police report.

Jones didn't threaten the victims, but told them he would be in trouble if they told anyone, according to the police report. He also bought them gifts including horses and a bike.

Jones denied the actions to police, saying "I'm a grandfather. I wouldn't do something like that," according to the police report.

He accused the second victim's mother of being behind the allegations because she wanted a house.

Jones served on the Ephrata City Council in 2004 and left citing health reasons.

Note: Due to profanity and potentially libelous accusations, commenting has been disabled on this article and all previous comments have been removed. Let's keep it civil, folks. - CBH staff.