PORTLAND, Ore. -- A serial TriMet sex offender has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail and five years of probation for inappropriately touching two women who were riding on MAX trains.
Jared Walter, 32, changed his plea to guilty on two counts of interfering with public transportation and two counts of harassment, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced on Tuesday. In addition to his 364-day jail sentence and five years of probation, Walter must undergo mental health and sex offender treatment.
Walter was charged with touching the side of one woman’s chest under her arm and touching another woman on her upper thigh. One of the victims said they inched away from Walter only to have him inch closer to her, the district attorney’s office said. He then touched her thigh after reaching into her coat pocket. The other woman said the touching “was so innocuous in the moment that she was initially unaware of it being a suspicious act,” according to the district attorney’s office. She realized it may be criminal after she saw a social media post about Walter being arrested for similar behavior.
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Both women agreed with the plea agreement and the decision to dismiss previous charges of sex abuse after considering Walter’s sentence, the district attorney’s office said.
Walter was already a registered sex offender and had been arrested more than a dozen times for vile acts aboard TriMet transportation. Earlier this year, he received a lifetime ban from TriMet.
As part of his sentencing, Walter was ordered to not trespass on TriMet property without permission of the court, his probation officer and TriMet. He’s also not allowed to loiter within 50 feet of any TriMet stop or station, the district attorney’s office said.
Walter would be in violation of his probation if he has inappropriate physical or verbal contact with TriMet employee or rider. A violation of his probation could result in another two years of jail time, according to the district attorney’s office.