A Vancouver man charged with one count of first-degree rape of a child and one count of first-degree kidnapping with sexual motivation pleaded guilty on Wednesday as part of an agreement that could land him in prison for life.
The final sentence for Matthew Lee Ortiz likely won’t be decided for at least 20 years, when he would make his first appearance before the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, an Olympia-based agency with the authority to rule on select “sex offenders.”
Ortiz, 28, confessed to the Aug. 29, 2009, kidnapping of a 16-year-old in Battle Ground. After he was arrested, police learned that Ortiz had engaged in a monthlong sexual relationship with a 12-year-old student in a tae kwon do class he led. The plea agreement is expected to be finalized by Superior Court Judge John Nichols at a Sept. 27 sentencing hearing.
“The odds are strong the judge will approve the agreement, because that’s what the two parties worked out,” said Deputy Prosecutor Dustin Richardson.
Ortiz’s defense attorney, John Crowley of Seattle, left the courthouse without taking questions.
The five-member sentencing review board presides primarily over felony offenders incarcerated prior to July 1984. The board, though, can also be called on to rule on sex offenders who have committed offenses after August 31, 2001,” according to its website. The review board was invoked in Ortiz’s case because he pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child.
After 20 years, the review board can begin to consider Ortiz’s possible release once every five years.
Ortiz was arrested on Aug. 29 and admitted he tried to lure to lure a 16-year-old girl into his pickup to sexually abuse and hold for ransom.
According to court documents, the girl told officers that she was walking home after jogging when a silver Toyota pickup pulled up beside her. The driver asked her how to get to the freeway.
The girl said she was frightened and began to run home. The pickup stopped beside her again, she told officers, and the driver pointed a gun and ordered her into the vehicle. She ran to a nearby home, where a witness was standing in the driveway.
The pickup truck hit a stop sign as it sped away, the witness told officers.
A Clark County deputy spotted a vehicle that matched the description. After obtaining a warrant, police searched the truck and found a ski mask, gloves, zip ties and a loaded 9 mm handgun.
Ortiz told officers that “he drove to the Battle Ground area in an effort to find a female to kidnap,” according to the affidavit.
Ortiz said he had a sexual fantasy about abducting a female, restraining her and committing a sexual act against her will, the affidavit said. He also said that, because of financial problems, he intended to hold the girl for ransom, according to the officers’ statement. He reportedly told police that he’d been planning the abduction for a month or so, and waited for a weekend when his wife was out of town.
After his arrest, police learned Ortiz had engaged in a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old taekwondo student from Aug. 1 to Aug. 29.
Wednesday’s proceeding bundled Ortiz’s first appearance on the charge with his guilty plea.
“He may or may not get out after 20 years,” Richardson said.
Bob Albrecht: 360-735-4522 or bob.albrecht@columbian.com.
