LAKE STEVENS — A 30-year-old Snohomish man who was a clerk at a Lake Stevens convenience store thought it was OK to give a pre-teen $100 cash and a note that he was attracted to her.
He also gave middle school kids who visited the store free snacks and free condoms.
Lake Stevens Police received word from a concerned adult and set up a sting.
A detective set up a phone number and assumed the identity of the girl that he gave the $100 to. The man took the bait.
In a constant stream of text exchanges between the 30-year-old and a detective posing as a 12-year-old, he began discussing what intercourse feels like before becoming infatuated. He offered to take the girl shopping and buy her gifts.
By the third day, he offered to have her spend the night with him. By the sixth, he said he’d have sex with the fictitious 12-year-old he was texting with, police transcripts obtained by the
Tribune show.
He arranged a meet-up date at a Lake Stevens park. There on March 5, Lake Stevens Police made the arrest. He had condoms in his pocket.
He knew it was wrong. He told police he knew the age of consent.
“He said he knew she was 12 years old and planned to have sex with her because he was in love with her,” a detective wrote in the arrest report.
In texts, he warned the detective posing as a girl not to tell anyone.
“You also know that if we have sex with a minor then it is considered rape,” he texted.
On March 8, Gurjent “Guri” Singh was charged with attempted second-degree rape of a child, a felony, and for immorally communicating with a minor.
In mid-March, he got himself released from jail by posting a $50,000 bond.
The Snohomish man had snuck into the United States last April, crossing the border illegally from Mexico.
Border agents caught him, but he talked his way out of being expedited back. Instead, he was required to periodically check in with the Seattle immigration office.
The Lake Stevens Police Department is requesting tips on the case.
Singh worked at the Lake Stevens Mini Mart on Lakeshore Drive. Police allege that he may have given children free vape sticks.
Anyone with additional information can contact the department by calling its
tip line, 425-622-9369, and reference Case #2022-2009
if leaving a voice message.
Their email is tipline@lakestevenswa.gov
