Spokane man charged with child rape assaulted family members, teen gymnast, court docs say

A Spokane man with a history of involvement in the local gymnastics community sexually assaulted three children, including multiple family members, over several years in the late 1990s, according to court documents made public Wednesday.

The accusations against Mark S. Hoffmeister, 64, who pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of rape, child rape and child molestation, first came to light through an anonymous tip in September.

A Spokane County Sheriff’s Office investigation turned up multiple witnesses who knew about the allegations of sexual assault in the 1990s, court documents show.

One of the victims was a 15-year-old girl who was friends with Hoffmeister’s children through their classes at Northwest Gymnastics Academy, according to court documents.

Hoffmeister and his wife at the time were “regarded very highly among the coaches, parents, and gymnasts,” court documents say.

In the summer of 1996, the victim spent the night at the Hoffmeister’s home, as was a common occurrence, court documents say.

The victim and one of the Hoffmeister children were lying on a trampoline in the back yard while Hoffmeister told them a “scary story” before bed, court documents say.

When the girls started falling asleep as Hoffmeister finished the story, the victim told police Hoffmeister began touching her. She tried to move away from Hoffmeister, but he continued touching her until she moved away again. Then he got up and walked back into the house, according to court documents.

About a week later, the victim told her friend from gymnastics about the incident, according to court documents. The friend encouraged the victim to tell the gym owners, which she did. She also told her mother.

The victim’s mother initially did not believe her and encouraged her daughter to recant her allegations against Hoffmeister, court documents say. The victim recanted her allegations, but not before the gym’s owners told the rest of the gymnastics students to keep their distance from Hoffmeister, according to court documents.

The owners of the facility told sheriff’s investigators that the victim never disclosed the assault to them, the court documents say.

The owners of Northwest Gymnastics Academy did not immediately respond to a request from The Spokesman-Review for comment.

According to court documents, the victim’s family was not financially well-off and received assistance from a family member and from the gymnastics facility owners to pay her dues.

Hoffmeister told police the victim asked him to pay for her gymnastics dues and that he refused.

The victim told police she quit gymnastics shortly after the assault, began to struggle with drug use and became periodically suicidal.

The victim’s mother came to believe her daughter and encouraged her to report the assault to law enforcement.

The victim did report the sexual assault to Crime Check in 2011, after her counselor helped her with residual trauma related to the incident and suggested she report it, according to court documents.

Another alleged victim told police Hoffmesiter assaulted her from when she was 5 years old until she was about 8.

The victim, who was related to Hoffmeister by marriage, went to Canada with the family in 1997.

The victim told police Hoffmeister made her swim into a cave with him at the hot springs they were visiting and that he assaulted her in the cave, according to court documents.

Hoffmeister told investigators he did not remember the victim going on any family vacations with him, but photos were recovered showing the victim on vacation with Hoffmeister and his family, court documents say.

This second victim eventually told her mother about the assault, according to court documents. The mother told her daughter to ask Hoffmeister to stop the inappropriate interactions, according to court documents.

Another victim told police that Hoffmeister attempted to show him how to masturbate and touched him inappropriately in 1998, according to court documents. The third victim is also related to Hoffmeister.

The victim told police he remembered an incident involving both Hoffmeister and the younger female victim.

Another relative told police Hoffmeister tried to make them sign a document in October saying that he “did not molest them or any of their friends,” according to court documents. When the family member did not sign it, Hoffmeister told them they were “out of his life,” court documents say.

When interviewed by police in October, Hoffmeister told police he had no prior knowledge of allegations he touched children inappropriately and denied he had ever done so.

The detective on the case wrote in court documents that he “did not discover any possible motive for (the victims) to be dishonest or fabricate their statements.”

Hoffmeister was charged with one count of rape in the second degree, three counts of rape of a child in the first degree and two counts of child molestation in the first degree.

In court documents, investigators noted Hoffmeister could not be charged with the reported assault of the 15-year-old due to the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations was abolished in Washington for crimes involving child rape and sexual exploitation of a minor during the 2019 legislative session.

Hoffmeister’s next court appearance is scheduled for May.

The sheriff’s office is looking for other people who may have information relevant to the investigation. Those who do can contact Detective Brad Humphrey at (509) 477-3028 and to reference case No. 10133211.