This Kennewick teen, accused of raping a girl at a daycare, has a new lawyer

The trial for a Kennewick teen charged with raping a young girl at his mother’s in-home daycare has been delayed four months because a new lawyer is on the case.

Logan T. Santjer, 17, waived his right Thursday to a speedy trial in Benton County Superior Court.

The new date is Dec. 10.

Defense attorney Ryan Swinburnson, who took over the case a month ago, said he recently got copies of police reports and other evidence, and he needs to review them before trial.

Meanwhile, Santjer is out of jail on his personal recognizance. He’s not supposed to have contact with minors.

His first-degree child rape case was automatically bumped up to adult court based on his age and the seriousness of the allegation.

Santjer was 16 when he took the girl into a playroom at Angie’s Kids Daycare on Dec. 29, told her to close her eyes and then sexually assaulted her, court documents said.

The girl told her parents that evening, and police were called the next day.

Kennewick police later got a search warrant for video inside the daycare, and discovered an 8-minute portion of the footage was gone, documents said.

Santjer allegedly is seen on the video with the girl in the living room and motioning her back to the playroom, but then the recording stops in the playroom.

The teen has denied the allegations.

Online records with the state Department of Early Learning show the daycare closed Jan. 2.

This story was originally published August 10, 2018 at 12:55 PM.