The suspect arrested by Hoquiam Police Detectives for child rape is a 60-year old that has education as a child psychologist and appears he was last employed by a medical provider as a contracted speech-language pathologist/ child psychologist within a school district in King County.

In the evening of Thursday, July 11, 2019, Hoquiam officers were advised of a possible kidnapping and sexual assault against a 13-year old boy.

The foster parent of the 13-year old was concerned about the boy being out later than anticipated.  When he went to check on the boy, he saw the boy exiting a vehicle in the north end of Hoquiam.  The foster parent did not know who the person was in the vehicle or where the child had gone. 

Thankfully the foster parent had the wherewithal to take a cellular photo of the vehicle and license plate.

Officers learned the boy had been communicating over social media with a 60-year old man from Mountlake Terrace.  The man drove to Hoquiam after the victim claimed to be 18, not 13-years old over social media messaging.  

When the two actually met, apparently neither appeared to be the person they portrayed over social media.  The suspect drove the 13-year old to a motel in Aberdeen where he was sexually assaulted before being returned and dropped off in Hoquiam.

After the foster parent reported the incident to Hoquiam officers, he transported the child to St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for a sexual assault examination.

Early the next morning, detectives drove to the motel in Aberdeen on the chance the suspect was still there.  Detectives found the suspect’s vehicle, as photographed by the foster parent, parked in the motel lot.  Aberdeen officers responded to the motel to assist the Hoquiam detectives and officers; the suspect was located and taken into custody.

The suspect was transported to the Hoquiam City Jail where he was subsequently interviewed by detectives.  The suspect claimed the victim told him he was 18-years old, but he suspected the victim was perhaps younger- such as 16- or 17-years old.

Currently, under Washington state law, the basic legal age of sexual consent is 16-years old.

After securing a search warrant, the motel room was processed for evidence by detectives; the suspect’s vehicle was impounded for evidence and transported to Hoquiam PD for a subsequent search warrant.

Evidence recovered at this point in the investigation suggests the suspect drove to Hoquiam specifically to meet with the victim for sex.  Detectives were not convinced the suspect believed the victim was actually over the age of 18, especially after learning the suspect has education as a child psychologist.  It appears he was last employed by a medical provider as a contracted speech language pathologist/ child psychologist within a school district in King County.

The suspect, Robert Wayne Wright, has been preliminarily charged and is being held in the Grays Harbor County Jail on $100,000 bond; if released, he has been court ordered not to have contact with children under the age 18.

The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has been notified given the suspect’s employment within a public school.

As many sexual assaults are never reported, it is critical to empower victims to report abuses to law enforcement for criminal investigation.  If there are additional allegations, victims are encouraged to call the local law enforcement agency where the offense occurred.

Anyone with information regarding the Hoquiam/ Aberdeen investigation should call HPD Detective David Peterson at (360) 532-0892 extension 276; or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .