A 42-year-old Sequim man was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail with the possibility of a lifetime sentence after pleading guilty to rape in the second degree of a teen girl.
Judge Brent Basden ordered Shamsher Singh in Clallam County Superior Court on July 22 to spend at least 78 months in prison, and if released, a lifetime in community custody, post-prison supervision.
With no previous criminal record, Singh faced a range of 78-102 months for the felony charge, according to court documents.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin said the prosecution agreed to 78 months in prison in exchange for a guilty plea so that the victim did not have to “relive the events in trial.”
Devlin said 78 months is Singh’s minimum sentence, and depending on the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board (ISRB), his maximum incarceration could be a life sentence. The lifetime order of community custody is also subject to the ISRB, she said.
A lifetime protection order was signed by Basden for the victim. Singh also must register as a sex offender. He was previously deemed indigent, and will not have to pay court fees, but a restitution hearing will be held at a future date.
The Sequim Police Department reported that Singh, a delivery driver, had been communicating via text for two months with the victim, and on May 30, 2024 he picked her up from her employment in Sequim to go to his Sequim home to prepare food.
The victim told police Singh purchased alcohol for them, despite her not requesting it. She drank some wine, ate some food and recalled waking up to Singh raping her, police report.
Court documents state the victim told police she did not expect, consent to, or desire any sexual activity from Singh.
A family member took the victim to Jefferson General Hospital where a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE) on May 31 was conducted.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin said in court on July 22 that Singh took advantage of a minor “under the guise of cooking a meal and gave her a lot of alcohol, made her incapable of consent, and raped her.”
A search warrant was first issued in June 2024 for Singh’s phone and police authored about 20 warrants to track him to Queens in New York City where U.S. Marshals arrested him.
He was booked in Clallam County Jail on Dec. 4, 2024, and changed his plea to guilty on May 13.
Court-appointed defense attorney Douglas Kresl said they agreed to the terms and while there may have been some differences in underlying facts, “(Singh) fully understands if this were to go to trial, he would be convicted.”
A victim statement was read in court prior to Basden’s judgment saying how Singh negatively impacted the victim’s day-to-day life, trust in others, and her health. She also called him “truly evil” and that he needs to be punished.
Singh, through a Hindi interpreter, attempted to say why he left the state, but Basden said that didn’t affect the sentencing decision.
“The sentence I will impose is based upon the admission contained in the statement of where he’s pled guilty, and not on evidence that may or may not have come in,” Basden said.
“It’s always disturbing how two lives can be altered in a moment for nothing and that’s the case here. The victim here deserves justice and this process allows that to occur.”
In an interview, Det. Sgt. Darrell Nelson with the Sequim Police Department said about the investigation that “one of our mottoes here is the ‘relentless pursuit of justice’ and that ‘relentless pursuit of justice’ allowed us to pursue and restore that victim’s voice.”
