Rape charges were dismissed against a former deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office.
John Nieder, formerly a sergeant working on Camano Island, was charged with two counts of rape in the second degree in Skagit County Superior Court in 2022. He was accused of sexually assaulting women he met on a dating app while he was not on duty.
The charges against Nieder were dismissed without prejudice, which means they can be re-filed in the future. Chief Criminal Prosecutor Rosemary Kaholokula said the charges were dismissed because the prosecution was unable to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. She said she was unable to discuss the reasons behind the decision; the deputy prosecutor who handled the case is no longer with the office.
Nieder’s attorney did not respond to a call or email for comment. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office detective who investigated the case also said she wasn’t able to talk about the case, and a supervisor didn’t return a call for comment.
According to court documents, Nieder is still facing a lawsuit from one of the women who accused him of sexual assault. The woman also obtained a sexual assault protection order against him in Snohomish County Superior Court, according to the state online case search portal.
While he worked for the Island County Sheriff’s Office, Nieder was accused of sexually harassing a female detective and, years later, a male deputy. Mark Brown, the former sheriff, fired him after the first allegation, but the deputy’s union appealed and an arbitrator ordered him reinstated despite finding that sexual harassment did occur.
Brown later promoted Nieder to sergeant.
In September 2022, the Island County Sheriff’s Office settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $105,000 with former Deputy Mike Adrian, who accused Nieder of touching him inappropriately. Nieder kept his position.
After the rape accusation in 2022, Island County Sheriff Rick Felici placed Nieder on paid administrative leave. A year later, Felici notified Nieder that the internal investigation provided clear and convincing evidence that just cause existed to terminate him for policy violations. Prior to the pre-disciplinary Loudermill hearing, at which Nieder would have a chance to give his side of the story, he instead resigned, according to documents the News-Times obtained through a public records request.
In the rape case, Nieder was first scheduled to go trial on Jan. 3, 2023, but it was canceled and rescheduled many times over the last couple of years.
Nieder has denied any wrongdoing and said the sex was consensual.
Skagit County detectives suspected that Nieder drugged the alleged victims, but a blood test from one of the women didn’t show the presence of any of the usual “date rape” drugs, according to a report by the detectives.
