Chelan County Rape Charges Dropped Against Former Seattle Teacher

A 53-year-old former King County middle school teacher is cleared of wrongdoing in Chelan County after prosecutors dropped charges against him in a rape and assault case.

Darren D. Hunter was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his home in Chelan during a drug deal in July of last year.

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Prosecutors brought seven charges against Hunter, including first-degree rape, two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, and two counts of violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act

Hunter's attorney, Nicole Hankins, said in a June 24 hearing that DNA results exonerated Hunter and video evidence also called into question the veracity of the allegations against him..

Hankins also said a toxicology report was missing. Prosecutors initially moved to expedite the toxicology results last week but vacated the request by Friday.

On Friday, prosecutors filed a motion for dismissal.

A certificate attached to the motion read, "The State, having reviewed the evidence and spoken to pertinent witnesses, does not believe it has sufficient evidence at this time to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt."

The motion was filed without prejudice, which means charges could be filed again in the same court.

After being arrested last year, Hunter was given $5 million bail. He was released after meeting a reduced bond of $750,000 last December.

Hunter moved to Chelan from the Seattle area. While living in Kent he worked as a middle school teacher in the Seattle School District until he was fired after pleading guilty to charges of assault with sexual motivation.

He's currently not employed by any school district.