Sex offender accused of attacking woman in Golden Gardens restroom

Danielle Anthony-Goodwin Ballard

Update March 8:

According to a second report by The Seattle Times, SPD police say that Steiner hid in one of the women’s restroom stalls at Golden Gardens Park with the intention of raping a woman.

According to statements from the detective who interviewed Steiner, he confirmed that two other women had come into the restroom but he didn’t attack them. When a third woman (the 36-year-old alleged victim) turned on the hand-dryer, he approached her from behind.

Steiner has been charged with attempted second-degree rape and second-degree assault with sexual motivation. He remains jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail.

He is to be arraigned on March 22.

Original Report:

According to a report by our news partners, The Seattle Times, a 40-year-old homeless sex offender is accused of attacking a woman in the women’s restroom at Golden Gardens Park on Sunday, March 5.

The Seattle Times reports that the suspect, Gary Steiner, refused to attend his first court appearance on Monday, March 6. Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, says that a King County District Court judge found probable cause to hold him on investigation of second-degree assault and attempted second-degree rape. A bond hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

According to the report, officers responded to the Golden Gardens just before 1 p.m. on Sunday after receiving a report that a woman had been attacked in the restroom.

The woman’s statement to police states that a man punched her twice in the face, took her to the floor and wrestled with her while attempting to flip her on her stomach as he pulled on her pants. The woman then reportedly scratched the suspect’s face and he punched her three more times in the head before she escaped. The woman suffered a cut to the face as well as bruising on her face and wrists.

According to The Seattle Times, the woman then ran to get help and passers-by locked her attacker in the restroom until police arrived. SPD officers arrived to find Steiner in the middle stall with the stall door broken and stuck closed.

Police say his clothing matched the victim’s description and he had scratches on his face.

When Steiner walked out of the restroom, the woman then positively identified him as the man who had attacked her. He was subsequently booked into jail, and jail records confirm that he has been charged with failing to register as a sex offender in Clark County.

According to the sex-offender registry maintained by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Steiner is listed as a transient Level 3 sex offender. He was convicted in Maricopa, Arizona, of sexually assaulting several women in 1999 and of indecent exposure in 2008.

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