Kirkland Police Seek 2nd Man Wanted In Sexual Abuse Case

KIRKLAND, WA — Kirkland detectives are seeking the public's help in tracking down a second man wanted in connection with a long-running trail of abuse targeting several underage girls over many years, police announced Friday.

According to the Kirkland Police Department, detectives opened a sexual exploitation investigation in 2018 after officers responded to a welfare check and met a teenage girl who told them about longtime sexual and psychological abuse from two men inside a Seattle apartment.

KIRO 7 reports her abuse took place over more than two years in the University District, beginning in 2015.

Police said Kirkland detectives worked with a school resource officer to identify several other teenage victims linked to the two men. The young girls said both men threatened to hurt their families, sexually assaulted them and forced them to participate in sexual acts with strangers.

Kirkland police said the assaults took place in Seattle and Puyallup and putting the pieces together took collaboration between several agencies and the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. According to detectives, the crimes took place several years ago, but the victims recently came forward with valuable information to help build the case.

As the investigation progressed, detectives learned the two men befriended one of the girls on a social media app and lured her to an apartment in Seattle where she suffered repeated assaults and threats of more harm if she did not convince other underage girls to meet them, police said. Investigators said the two men were also involved in a kidnapping and attempted robbery of another man in Pacific.

One suspect, identified by police as Thomas Edward Lee Anderson, 34, was arrested earlier in March and booked into jail on suspicion of sexual assault and promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor. The second suspect, identified by police as Scott Barry Uchida, is still on the run and police believe me fled the country.

Anyone with information on Uchida's location is asked to call the Kirkland Police Department's tip line at 425-587-3515.