PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — The case against a former Seattle firefighter accused of attempted child rape has been dismissed.
Andrew Sapier was charged with two counts of attempted rape of a child in the second degree and one count of felony miscommunication with a minor for immoral purposes.
A Pierce County jury found Sapier not guilty on counts one and two on Jan. 12. Jurors couldn’t reach a verdict on the third count.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office dismissed the remaining charge without prejudice Jan. 26, which means the case could be refiled at some point in the future.
Sapier was arrested in Pierce County in March 2021 during an undercover operation under the Washington State Patrol’s Net Nanny initiative, which targets sex predators.
He was accused of trying to meet who investigators said he believed was a 13-year-old girl for sex. An undercover detective posing as a 13-year-old girl on a social media app made plans to meet with Sapier and her friend.
The undercover detective directed Sapier to a home in Tacoma where he arrived with a duffel bag and was arrested.
In an interview with a Seattle police detective, Sapier said he saw a picture of the two girls he thought he was meeting, and they looked about 13 years old. However, he said he came to the house hoping they were not 13, and if they were, he would “take action from there,” according to probable cause documents.
Sapier was re-tried in January after a mistrial in October where jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.
Sapier was hired by the Seattle Fire Department in 1998. He was put on administrative leave at the time of his arrest.
