Kingston man sentenced for rape in Kitsap County; victim says it was ‘sorry excuse for a plea deal’

Stephen Tyler Clayton was sentenced to 14 months in prison after accepting a plea deal on Monday.

While Clayton pled guilty to raping three women, his plea combined three rape charges into one charge of rape and one charge of assault.

Clayton was sentenced to 14 months in prison, 36 months under community custody, and will have to register as a sex offender.

“This case has consumed our lives, and what do we have to show for it other than a sorry excuse for a plea deal?” Alissa Drowns, one of Clayton’s victims, said in court on Monday. “Nothing is ever going to be the same for our family.”

Kitsap County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Anna Aruiza called Clayton a “sexual predator” in court on Monday. She said the state had to “seriously consider” a plea deal to “secure a conviction.”

Aruiza previously stated the “mental instability” and lack of cooperation of some victims could make it hard to convict Clayton in a trial, as reported by the Kitsap Daily News.

“Which one of us doesn’t matter?” Drowns, who claimed the legal system was “using our mental abuse against us,” said in court on Monday.

Before Monday’s court hearing, several protestors demonstrated against the plea deal outside the Kitsap County Courthouse. Some wore shirts reading, “Rape does not equal 12 months.”

“He’s raped three people, and he’s only seeing one count of rape, one count of assault. So which victim doesn’t matter?” Jessica Rice, a local mother who joined protestors on Monday, said. “We need to be able to hold these criminals accountable and have consequences, or what does that mean? He’s just going to get out and go do it again.”