PORTLAND, Ore. — Prosecutors were denied a request Thursday morning to raise the bail of serial sex offender Jared Walter, who has assaulted women on TriMet trains and buses.
His current bail is $9,000, for which he can leave jail by posting $900. Prosecutors wanted to raise the bail to $100,000.
Walter's attorney successfully argued before Judge Judith Matarazzo that he had never been a flight risk and always attended scheduled court appearances in the past.
Walter, a man who had already been arrested 17 times in connection with vile acts aboard Portland area public transportation, was arrested again for allegedly putting his hand in a woman's pocket and touching her thigh while riding a MAX train on Monday.
Walter, 32, was charged with sex abuse, harassment and interfering with public transportation.
The victim told investigators that Walter sat behind her on the train, and she could feel him sitting very close, court documents said. She felt Walter's fingers in her pocket touching her upper thigh.
The victim jumped out of her seat and hit the emergency call button to ask for help.
Investigators watched surveillance video from the MAX train and confirmed the victim's account of the events and that Walter was the suspect, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
Walter was arrested Tuesday near a MAX station at Southwest Pine Street and 6th Avenue.
"TriMet appreciates the quick work of transit police in this case and the help the victim and witnesses provided," said TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt. "We hope the woman allegedly targeted will be okay. In addition to arresting Mr. Walter, transit police issued a 90-day exclusion to Mr. Walter."
Portland police said there could be additional victims or possible witnesses who have yet to speak to investigators. If you or someone you know may have been a victim, call transit police at 503-962-7266.
Walter has been previously convicted of masturbating on buses and cutting women's hair.
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"It’s pretty ridiculous. Almost 20 arrests, and we’ll continue to arrest him each time," said Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Brad Yakots. "We’re working with the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office to make sure these charges go through."
Yakots wanted to assure the public that the TriMet system is "very, very safe." But "this is the same person that keeps committing these crimes."
"We have a behavior health division that will be looking at this, we have a detective division, we have our transit police division," Yakots added. "He hasn’t escalated yet but we’re very aware of that and will be investigating that."
In March 2018, Walter got five years of probation. But he was arrested again four months later, and three more times since then.
His probation was revoked on Nov. 14, but he was released six days later in Washington County because of time served, and he was allowed to ride public transportation again.
The judge gave Walter the maximum sentence allowed by the Oregon statute on these misdemeanor cases and they ran concurrently, according to the Washington County District Attorney's Office.
Because of Walter, TriMet created a long-term exclusion ordinance and added it to their code of conduct.
"In the past, we always worked with the DA's Office to make a ban on riding TriMet during the probation part of the sentence. Now with the long-term ban, we don't have to rely on that again," Altstadt said last year. "We put this ordinance into place because of this individual."
The ordinance wasn't retroactive, which is why Walter was allowed to keep riding public transportation.
Now, after the latest arrest, TriMet does have the authority to issue a long-term exclusion Altstadt told KGW on Wednesday.
"We put this authority in place following Mr. Walter’s previous convictions. As Mr. Walter is currently in jail, and an exclusion is in place if he is released, we will take the time to investigate and to be deliberate as we determine next steps," she said. "Once we have additional information, we will evaluate whether the alleged conduct may qualify for a longer exclusion."
"We do not take the issuance of a long-term ban of using public transit lightly," she added. "In fact, TriMet has never issued a long term exclusion past 90 days. The safety of our riders and employees remains of the utmost importance and, if warranted under the circumstances and supported by the evidence, TriMet will use the long-term exclusion to prevent someone from using the transit system."