Level 2 sex offender accused of rape

A registered sex offender accused of raping a woman after responding to her online advertisement made a first appearance in Clark County Superior Court.

Jeremiah A. Teas, 39, of Vancouver appeared Monday on suspicion of first-degree rape and is being held on $400,000 bail.

Teas is classified as a Level 2 sex offender, which generally means there’s a moderate risk he will reoffend. He has a 1997 conviction for third-degree assault with sexual motivation and a 1998 conviction for first-degree child molestation, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs database.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched shortly after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to a residence in the 4000 block of Northeast St. Johns Road. Deputies found that a woman had been forcibly raped. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, a probable cause affidavit states.

The woman told deputies that she had posted an advertisement online for massage services and was contacted by her attacker, later identified as Teas, court records said. They exchanged several text messages before meeting.

Teas rode a bus to the woman’s apartment, and when he arrived, she said, she escorted him to her bedroom, where she closed the door. The woman said that when she turned her back to him, Teas shoved her onto a bed and held a knife to her throat.

Police later contacted Teas and he admitted to going to the neighborhood but said he was visiting a friend who lives nearby, court documents show.

Teas will be arraigned Oct. 21.