A South Kitsap School District employee, who was attacked on May 7 while jogging in Bremerton, said local authorities are to blame for a 14-year-old male suspect being released from jail after he was acquitted of assault charges last week, according to media reports.

Victim Jordan Monasmith, a speech pathologist with the district, told Q13 that detention officers washed the suspect’s clothing after he was arrested, thus erasing any potential DNA evidence from the attack.

Judge Leila Mills decided June 11 to release the suspect because of a lack of evidence, according Q13.

“I’m absolutely disgusted by the procedures following the event and how the Bremerton Police Department handled it,” Monasmith told Q13.

Bremerton Police Lt. Pete Fisher told Q13 that officers followed the rule of law.

According to Q13, the prosecution based their case off Monasmith’s testimony and the account of responding police officers, which the judge found insufficient. Detention officers deleted crucial evidence when they washed the suspects clothing after he was arrested.

“Any evidence of dirt or grit that might corroborate a scuffle on the blacktop driveway was not observed to or testified to,” Mills told Q13.

The case cannot be appealed.

911 call replayed, victim’s testimony

Last week, Monasmith’s accounts of the attack were replayed in her call to 911 as she took the stand during the defendant’s trial in Kitsap County Juvenile Court.

“He tackled me to the ground and choked me out and I fought him free,” Monasmith told the operator the day of the attack. “He grabbed my neck, so my neck is sore, but I’m OK.”

She said the suspect was squeezing her so tightly that she wasn’t able to breathe or scream for help, reported Q13.

“His body weight was too much for me to hold after running so we collapsed onto the pavement,” said Monasmith. “His body was laying halfway on top of mine so I was pinned down to the ground. As all of this was happening, he said nothing. I then reached up with a free arm, grabbed the back of the male’s head and slammed it into the pavement approximately three times but he did not release his grip on my neck. I then pushed my thumb into his eye socket as hard as I could for about 3 seconds.”

After the suspect released her, she ran toward the YMCA. Bremerton police officers arrested the suspect a short time later.

Q13 reported Monasmith was left with cuts to her legs and is getting counseling twice a week.

Since the story broke, internet news sites have posted the story, including the Daily Mail of London.