TACOMA, WA - On Tuesday, the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office charged Christopher Fitzpatrick, 39, and Maria Counts, 29, with rape, kidnapping, and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of Lily Christopherson, 15.
Fitzpatrick, a convicted sex offender, was ordered held on $2,000,000.00 dollars bail. Counts is being held on $500,000.00 bail. Meanwhile, Christopherson is still missing.
"There's nothing more important than protecting our children,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “And there are no crimes more serious than those against our children.”
In a new development, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirms that within hours of his arraignment, Fitzpatrick tried to commit suicide in the Pierce County jail.
“About 4 pm Tuesday while in the shower, Fitzpatrick was handed a towel. He tore it in half and tried to hang himself by the door,” said Sheriff’s Department Spokesman, Detective Ed Troyer. “A corrections deputy intervened and he was taken to the hospital.”
Fitzpatrick is expected to recover and stand trial in July.
On May 9, 2018, Lily’s mother, Lena Winters, called Bonney Lake Police to report her daughter was missing. That same day, Fitzpatrick and Counts met Lily at the Federal Way Transit Center. The evidence indicates she was drugged, raped, photographed nude, and pimped out to at least two men.
After a $5,000.00 reward was offered in the case, police found and arrested Fitzpatrick at a home in Lakewood. Counts was arrested at a Tumwater motel.
Anyone who has seen Lily Christopherson or knows where she can be found, please call the Bonney Lake Police Department or 911.
"The world of sex trafficking is seedy and it's dangerous," Lindquist said. "It’s important we find Lily.”
Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
For more information, please contact James Lynch at (253) 798-6265, [email protected].