SEATTLE — Prosecutors have charged a man accused of dragging a 15-year-old girl into a wooded area and raping her in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood.
Joshua Kowalczewski, 35, was charged Wednesday with first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping in connection to the May 4 incident.
Although the girl involved in the incident was 15, Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, said Kowalczewski was not charged with rape of a child, because first-degree rape "more accurately describe" the suspect’s actions, and a conviction on a child rape charge would carry a less punitive punishment.
WTAF! How does rape of a child carry a less punitive punishment?
https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/northgate-bus-stop-teen-rape-charges/281-2e5db773-0d3e-4687-9405-3b82198cb4f0