Moses Lake man arrested for attempted rape of a child

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was arrested Tuesday in a sting after allegedly attempting to commit sexual acts with a 13-year-old who turned out to be an undercover detective.

Jonathan Brockway, 34, was booked Tuesday and charged with second-degree attempted rape of a child and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Court documents indicate that a detective with the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force went undercover as a 13-year-old male on the social media dating application Grindr.

Through training and operational experience, the detective believed “minors have been sexually exploited through apps and websites such as this dating application.” The undercover detective connected with Brockway via the social media app before moving the conversation to text messaging.

In transcripts from the text conversation between Brockway and the detective, Brockway said he had previously engaged in sexual acts with a 14-year-old. Brockway arranged to meet up with the fictional 13-year-old at Blue Heron Park in Moses Lake to commit sexual acts, according to the transcripts. He was arrested without incident outside of the park.

Before asking for an attorney, Brockway was interviewed for 20 minutes by investigating officers. During the interview, Brockway allegedly admitted to communicating with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old boy. When officers began reviewing the transcript of Brockway’s conversation, the suspect requested an attorney and the interview was ended.

While he faces the pending charges, Brockway is barred from having any electronic communications with minors without supervision from “a responsible adult aware of this condition and pending charge.” He is also barred from being near any place where minors are currently present.

Brockway is currently in custody. Cash bail is set to $50,000.