Law Catches up to Washington Man Wanted on Molestation Charges

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies in San Juan Capistrano Friday arrested a man wanted for the past 16 years in Washington State for alleged child molestation.

Charges against Wallace Joseph Griffith, now 48, date back to 1996. He is believed to have fondled 15-year-old girl who was known to him in Benton County, Wash., said Terry Bloor, deputy prosecuting attorney in Benton County.

“For many years, the victim, who was a minor child, did not feel emotionally able to testify about the situation,” Bloor said.

By the time she was ready, Griffith had left the state and relocated to California.

In 2009, Griffith was arrested in California and extradited to Washington to face molestation charges. However, he was able to get them dismissed by arguing the state failed to give him a speedy trial, according to court documents.

The Benton County Prosecuting Attorney’s office appealed, and the appellate court granted the appeal, but by the time the legal process worked its way through, Wallace was long gone, Bloor said.

“He was free to leave, and leave he did,” he said.

On Friday, sheriff’s deputies in San Juan Capistrano stopped a pedestrian near the Camino Del Avion-Alipaz Street intersection. Besides taking him into custody for his outstanding warrant, deputies arrested him on suspicion of carrying a dirk or dagger and falsely representing himself to a peace officer, two misdemeanor charges, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.

Bloor said Griffith’s victim is now 30.

“ ’I’m ready, put me on the stand,’ ” she told Bloor.