Former Santa Charged In Rape Of 6-Year-Old Cops Say Crimes May Go Back As Far As Early 1970s

A 72-year-old man who volunteered as Santa Claus at a suburban shopping mall was charged Monday with raping a 6-year-old girl at his home. Police say he confessed to molesting seven other children.

King County prosecutors say the list of victims could be substantially higher and that Ronald C. McDonald, who bears a striking resemblance to Santa Claus without the beard, may have been molesting young children as far back as the early 1970s.

Police allege McDonald groomed his child victims through his volunteer activities in the community and molested them at his home.

“Based upon the defendant’s statements, it is believed that his sexual contact with children extends far into the past and involves more children than he has to date identified,” deputy prosecutor Scott O’Toole said in charging papers. “There is reason to believe that the defendant has been involved in these activities as long ago as 26 years.”

McDonald, of the northeast Seattle suburb of Lake Forest Park, was charged with two counts of first-degree child rape involving a relative who said McDonald had sex with her at his home in September and October.

The white-haired McDonald was well-known to neighborhood children as the man who played Santa Claus at a Lake Forest Park shopping mall during the Christmas season. He “bears an uncanny resemblance to the childhood image of Santa Claus,” without the beard, prosecutors said.

McDonald also has been a volunteer child-care worker at the University of Washington hospital for 13 years and was active in the child nursery at his local church, where he helped teach 2-and 3-year-olds, investigators said.

Investigators said they expect to find additional victims.

McDonald was held in the King County Jail. Prosecutors were requesting a cash-only bail of $250,000.

They also want McDonald barred from having contact with children.