Accused child rapist in trouble again for going to Richland Art in the Park
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- Prosecutors seek bail revocation after accused child rapist visits family event
- Judge orders home monitoring, citing violation of child proximity restrictions
- He faces 15 charges of child rape spanning Pierce and Benton counties
A deputy prosecutor raised the alarm in court last week after an alleged child rapist made a trip to Richland’s Art in the Park.
Dmitri Microulis-Leonard, 46, is accused of 15 counts of crimes against children between Pierce and Benton counties that include multiple counts of child rape.
He’s been out on $100,000 bond from each county since charges were filed in 2023 and 2024. Since then, he has been ordered to stay away from places where children’s activities happen.
But Microulis-Leonard went to Howard Amon Park during the recent art festival event and was spotted by someone related to the victims, said Deputy Prosecutor Anita Petra. That led the deputy prosecutor to ask during a Thursday hearing for his bail in Benton County to be revoked.
She said the annual Friday and Saturday event is advertised as a family event during the Tri-City Water Follies weekend. There is a playground and a splash pad nearby, and that stretch of the river is popular with families playing in the water.
Microulis-Leonard’s attorney Deric Orr argued that his client was at the Art in the Park event with his elderly mother, and there weren’t any children nearby.
He said the provision is meant to keep him away from children, not away from anywhere children could possibly be, this could include a brewery or a grocery store.
“Under the construction the state is offering, I don’t know where he could go,” Orr said.
Petra pointed out he’s supposed to stay away from places where children’s activities are occurring.
“A brewery is not a place where children’s activities are occurring. A supermarket is not a place where children’s activities are occurring,” she said.
Judge Jackie Stam agreed that Microulis-Leonard violated terms of his release, saying that the court order says he’s supposed to stay out of places where children are around, such as parks and schools.
She ordered that he get electronic home monitoring. While he’ll be allowed to leave the area to go to his Pierce County hearings, it’s not clear when he would be allowed to leave the house otherwise.
Decade of alleged abuse
Two women came forward in 2023 to accuse Microulis-Leonard of engaging in a pattern of abuse that started when they were young and spanned years, court documents said.
One of them initially reported the abuse in 2015, but recanted after a Richland police detective told the teen that she “wasn’t acting like a true victim,” according to court documents.
While the case was forwarded to Benton County prosecutors, no charges were filed at that time. She was also accused of providing a false statement.
The same woman came forward again in 2023 when she was an adult and informed her mother of the abuse. They then learned about the second victim, said court documents.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 3:00 AM.