A hip presence on the Seattle restaurant scene has been charged with the Class A felony of Rape of a Child in the Second Degree. According to King County Court documents Matthew Aaron Cannelora, 28, whose most recent address police say is in the 1700 block of Boylston Street in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, is alleged to have committed multiple sex acts with a 13-year-old girl in her Rainier Beach home last December while he was staying there with his adult sister to help take of care of the girl and her younger sister. The parents, close friends of his, were away on a trip to Mexico to attend a wedding. Cannelora declined comment on the case when contacted by a reporter.
Charges were filed March 20. Cannelora entered an initial plea of not guilty at his arraignment April 3. The next court date is April 16.
Cannelora’s profile has risen in recent years in Seattle foodie circles. He was bartender at Quinn’s Gastropub on Capitol Hill, then at the west CapHill eatery La Bete. Now according to staff on site Sunday April 14, he works just south of Madison near Seattle University at Von Trapp’s, 912 12th Ave., which is owned by the Emerald State Restaurant Group. (UPDATE – 4/15/13, 7:12 p.m. We have just heard from Rich Fox, Operating Owner of Von Trapp’s, who emailed to say, “Matthew Cannelora was a part of our opening staff but is no longer employed by our establishment.”)
Cannelora’s perspectives on food and drink have appeared in local online media – for instance, waxing lyrical in Seattle Beer News on the pairing of seared foie gras with Belgian ale, and talking spirits at La Bete with Seattle Met. Aleks Dimitrijevik, a co-owner of La Bete, said Sunday night that Cannelora left the restaurant “after Thanksgiving” because “we did not see to see eye-to-eye on things, we were not compatible” work-wise. Less than three weeks later, according to Seattle police records, Cannelora committed a major sex offense.
Police: suspect admitted having long “harbored inappropriate…desires”
A Seattle Police case investigation report included in court documents says Cannelora admitted in a February 20 interview with a detective that, according to the report’s text, “he has long harbored inappropriate feeling and desires…of sexually interacting with underage girls” and that he had never acted on those feelings until the early December, 2012 events described in the report.
The police report says Cannelora admitted to the detective to having sexual intercourse with the 13-year-old girl as well as performing oral sex on her and simulating her digitally, and that he was fully aware of her age, both at the time of the interview and the December encounter. The report adds Cannelora told the Seattle police detective he had engaged the alleged victim in “inappropriate sexual activity.”
Was close friend of family
The alleged victim was also interviewed by the police detective and stated that, according to the report’s text, Cannelora had “constant involvement with the family” and was in “regular attendance at family functions” including the victim’s birthday parties.
Police report: parents in Mexico, bourbon, then sex
In early December, according to the police report, the alleged victim’s parents went to Mexico to attend a wedding and Cannelora and his adult sister stayed with the alleged victim and her younger sister for several nights “to provide care and supervision” of the girls. The first two nights “all went as expected.” The third night the other two were asleep and Cannelora and the 13-year-old alleged victim were sitting together on a couch downstairs watching a NetFlix movie. “As they watched the movie Cannelora retrieved a bottle of bourbon, brought it to the couch, and began to drink from the bottle,” after which the alleged victim chugged some bourbon.
By about one hour into the movie, the two were sitting close to each other and began foreplay, then progressed further as described in the report.
Rape of a child in the second degree is defined under Washington state law as having sexual intercourse with someone 12 or 13 years of age to whom you are not married and whom you are older than by 36 months or more. The penalty upon conviction for a Class A felony in Washington state is a prison term not to exceed life, or a fine not to exceed $50,000, or both. On April 16, a court date is set to further establish the schedule for hearing the case.
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