Five years ago, the West End community of Clallam County was shaken by the revelation of severe sexual abuse committed by a trusted school employee against a middle school student. Tammy Ann Leask, a former para-educator in the Quillayute Valley School District and a long-standing member of the Port Angeles Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, eventually pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old boy. A review of extensive court records outlines the timeline of the abuse, the specifics of her admission, and the legal proceedings that followed.
The criminal probe into the 39-year-old Forks resident commenced shortly before the 2020 academic year began. Quillayute Valley School District administrators alerted law enforcement after learning that a para-educator was suspected of maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a student at Forks Middle School. The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation and quickly established probable cause. On the morning of August 27, 2020, officers arrested Leask without incident at Forks High School.
During interviews with detectives, Leask admitted to the abuse, describing a sexual relationship with the child that lasted from November 2019 through January 2020. Probable cause documents indicate that the relationship began on school grounds, with the first instance of sexual intercourse occurring in a classroom. The abuse subsequently escalated and moved off-campus, taking place approximately ten to eleven times over a six-week span in her vehicle, at the victim’s residence, and at the school.
Leask told detectives, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help him,” adding that the situation “just got out of control” and that she “couldn’t stop it.” The investigation also uncovered a pattern of grooming, with Leask providing the 13-year-old with various illicit items. She admitted to purchasing beer for the student “once or twice” on the claim that it helped him relax. She also bought him tobacco and pornographic magazines, and provided condoms she had obtained from the health department. When questioned about giving the boy Xanax from her purse, Leask responded, “I don’t think so. Maybe.”
Following her confession, Leask was booked into the Clallam County Corrections facility. The Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office acted quickly, with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew D. Roberson filing a formal Criminal Information on August 28, 2020. The initial charges included five counts of Rape of a Child in the Second Degree and one count of Distribution of a Controlled Substance to a Minor. On that same day, the court set bail at $150,000 and imposed strict release conditions, which banned Leask from entering any Quillayute Valley School District property and prohibited her from having contact with any minor under the age of 16.
A Sequim woman who provided a detailed admission of guilt to law enforcement officers later pleaded not guilty during her initial court appearance on September 4, 2020. Judge Simon Barnhart presided over that arraignment.
Prosecutors advanced the case at a slower pace once the defense team began reviewing sensitive discovery files, which included tightly controlled audio and video recordings from the child’s forensic interviews. The trial schedule was delayed multiple times through motion hearings held in late 2020 and early 2021 as both sides finalized their litigation strategies.
Plea Agreement and Sentencing
The pretrial motions ended abruptly on March 17, 2021, when the defendant withdrew her not guilty plea and accepted a guilty verdict on an amended charging document.
Four weeks later, on April 21, 2021, the court held the final sentencing hearing. The judge imposed a 102-month prison term for the charges related to the sexual assault of a minor. This sentence was ordered to run concurrently with a 24-month term for a separate drug offense.
Community Connections and Church Leadership
While the conviction and sentencing are matters of public record, background investigations indicate the defendant had deep, multi-generational ties to the local LDS Church community. Documentation reviewed by TROH confirms that the defendant was raised in the Port Angeles Stake, and several family members remain active in that congregation.
In the LDS faith, members are strongly urged to report serious moral violations to their ecclesiastical leaders, such as a Bishop or Stake President. Given the defendant’s statements to detectives that her behavior “got out of control” and that she “should have gotten out,” questions have arisen regarding whether she sought guidance from her ward leaders during or after the alleged abuse.
Observers are also questioning whether the Port Angeles Stake had knowledge of the para-educator’s actions before police intervened in August 2020. A further point of interest is the role of former Port Angeles Stake President Brent Basden in the case.
Judicial Involvement
Judge Basden, who served as the former Stake President, did not remove himself entirely from the legal proceedings. According to earlier reporting by the Peninsula Daily News, he presided over a hearing in the defendant’s criminal case on February 17, 2021.
The legal system generally requires judges to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Although the primary focus has been on the misconduct by a school employee and the justice delivered for the 13-year-old victim, the judicial handling of the case has drawn attention.
Judge Basden is currently under investigation by the Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct regarding allegations of bias in family court matters. His participation in the felony proceedings of a defendant from his former stake highlights the ethical complexities and potential conflicts of interest within the Clallam County justice system.
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