Coast Guard petty officer stationed in Port Angeles pleads not guilty to child rape, incest

A U.S. Coast Guard petty officer first class stationed in Port Angeles has pleaded not guilty to child rape and incest.

Brandyn Sampson, 37, entered the plea last week in Clallam County Superior Court, The Peninsula Daily News reported.

The 18-year Coast Guardsman who went to high school in Port Angeles is stationed at Ediz Hook at Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles.

At the urging of Sampson’s attorney Karen Unger, Judge Brent Basden reduced Sampson’s bail from $250,000 to $25,000 on conditions that Sampson stay with his parents in Spokane, observe a new protective order preventing contact with the alleged victim and electronic home monitoring. Sampson was released on bail Friday.

The charges filed in late January include special allegations that Sampson violated his position of trust and took part in an ongoing pattern of abuse of a minor.

The incidents allegedly happened between May 2018 and May 2019, when the child was under the age of 15.