News Release
NPS Photo
News Release Date: September 20, 2021
Contact: NPS Investigative Services Branch, (202) 379-4761
Tacoma – A 36-year-old Kent, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 87 months in prison for the August 2020 rape of a 14-year-old, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Christopher James Kuna was at a gathering with family and close friends in Olympic National Park when he provided alcohol to the victim and committed the sexual assault. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said, “It is hard to describe a more serious case than this. The rape of a 14-year-old. The facts are egregious. The victim has a life sentence and that cannot be changed.”
According to records filed in the case, Kuna was a trusted family friend of the victim and the victim’s family. During the evening hours of August 24 and early morning of the 25th, Kuna plied the victim with alcohol causing intoxication to such an extent that the victim vomited. Kuna then sexually assaulted the victim. Because he was more than 20-years older and much larger than the victim, the victim was fearful of resisting Kuna. Kuna told the victim he had been thinking about the assault for a long time.
A trusted family friend assisted the family in making a report to local law enforcement. Upon realizing jurisdiction lay within a national park, local law enforcement referred the matter to the National Park Service investigative services branch who took over the investigation.
Kuna will be required to register as a sex offender following any prison term. He will be on 15 years of supervised release following prison.
The case was investigated by the National Park Service and the FBI.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Angelica Williams, Jonas Lerman, and Hilary Stuart.
ISB: the Investigative Services Branch of the National Park Service
www.nps.gov/isb
Last updated: September 22, 2021