A Vancouver man who’s accused of preying on intoxicated women at bars — in some cases allegedly kidnapping and raping them — made a first appearance Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Samnang Touch, 31, appeared on suspicion of second-degree kidnapping with sexual motivation, two counts of second-degree rape and one count of indecent liberties. Judge Gregory Gonzales set Touch’s bail at $1 million. He will be arraigned Nov. 14, court records show.
Between August and Oct. 27, two women reported that Touch sexually assaulted them while they were “extremely intoxicated,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. Investigators subsequently found video and photos on Touch’s cellphone showing him inappropriately touching two other women, who were unconscious, “indicating a predatory sexual pattern,” the affidavit reads.
On Oct. 27, Touch met one of the victims at a bar in Portland and offered to drive her home to Vancouver. Touch gave the woman more alcohol while en route, and instead of taking her home, drove to Columbia Way near the Portco Tunnel leading to state Highway 14. Then he raped her in his vehicle, court records say.
A witness who was with the victim earlier said the woman was “extremely intoxicated at the time the defendant approached her at the bar and in such a state that she was incapacitated and unable to consent,” the court document states. Touch said they had consensual sex.
Another woman reported that on Oct. 17, Touch sexually assaulted her at his residence after giving her at least four shots of alcohol, the affidavit says. Court records do not indicate how they met.
“The defendant captured video of the initial meeting with (the) victim and subsequently captured in-car footage of the victim after the sexual contact, in which she appears by her mannerisms and appearance to be extremely intoxicated,” the court document reads. Touch, again, said the sex was consensual.
On Aug. 10, Touch met another woman at a Portland bar and offered to give her a ride home to West Linn, Ore. Instead, the victim awoke in Touch’s residence. She said she didn’t give Touch permission to take her to his home and was unaware that while she was unconscious, he removed her clothing, inappropriately touched her and recorded the incident. Investigators found the video on his phone, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also references an investigation by the Seattle Police Department, in which a woman reported being at a bar in Seattle with friends. She had no recollection of leaving with Touch, she said, but awoke the next morning with him, 40 minutes away in Kirkland. She did not know that Touch had inappropriately touched her and recorded it, she said, and did not give him permission. Police found photos and video on his cellphone of the woman, court records say.
