Bellevue child rapist loses butt dial fight Court: Elderly man will serve 24-year prison term for child molestation, rape

Alan Sinclair, pictured in a Department of Corrections photo. Alan Sinclair, pictured in a Department of Corrections photo. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bellevue child rapist loses butt dial fight 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Yes, Bellevue child rapist, we can hear you now. Too bad.

Alan James Sinclair II accidentally called a young girl’s mother while discussing his misdeeds with the girl. He hoped a Washington appellate court would throw out the incriminating recording – and his child rape convictions – on the grounds that the voicemail violated his privacy rights.

No such luck.

A three-judge panel of the Appeals Court, Division I, found that the Sinclair’s pocket dial wasn’t particularly important to the jury that convicted him. The judges found there was ample evidence of Sinclair’s guilt beyond the phone call that first exposed him.

Sinclair, 66, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after a King County jury convicted him of child molestation, child rape and related offenses. Sinclair repeatedly abused a child to whom he had easy access.

A Boeing retiree and grandfather, Sinclair abused the girl over a period of months. He took photos documenting the abuse, and might have faced federal child pornography charges had he succeeded in dodging the state charges.

Sinclair’s abuse of the girl was exposed in January 2013, when he accidentally dialed the girl’s mother while attempting to talk her into more sex. Puffing on a cigarette, Sinclair kissed the girl, then a young teen.

“I love that tongue,” he told her. “Do you love mine?”

That exchange was captured on a voicemail Sinclair accidentally left. The girl’s mother called Bellevue police later that day.

The investigation that followed saw Sinclair charged with two counts of child rape, two counts of child molestation and one count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. He was convicted on all counts, and sentenced in June 2014 to serve at least 24 years in prison.

Sinclair’s attorney contended such a term would be a de facto life sentence for Sinclair. Regardless of the minimum term, state law allows prisons officials to keep Sinclair confined until he is deemed fit for release.

Prior to trial, Sinclair’s attorney asked that the recording be thrown out because state law makes it illegal to record a telephone call without both parties’ consent.

Through his attorney, the rapist contended he didn’t consent to the recording because he made the call accidentally. King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell ruled that the state privacy act doesn’t apply in “the absence of any unlawful act by anybody.”

The Appeals Court didn’t dispute Ramsdell’s ruling, but found the call wasn’t crucial to the case against Sinclair.

“The issues are interesting and novel,” Judge Mary Kay Becker wrote. “But we conclude it is unnecessary to resolve them in this case because any error was harmless. …

“There is no reasonable probability that the outcome of Sinclair’s trial would have been different if the recording of the pocket-dialed voicemail had been excluded.”

Judge Jay Robert Leach and Judge Stephen Dwyer joined Becker in the opinion, which was released Wednesday.

Sincair is currently housed at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, located north of Forks in Clallam County. He likely won’t be eligible for release until the mid-2030s.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.