The Renton Civic Theatre’s leadership faces potential cuts and restructuring after a social media campaign discovered a history of sex crimes for two members of the theater’s management.
“Renton Civic Theatre is a broken organization. Their artistic director is a registered sex offender and harasses women. He has clearly been at this harassment for many years and has not been stopped because not enough of us have spoken up,” stated a user on Facebook on Aug. 21.
Original reporting from Fox 13 Seattle found previous Washington convictions for sex crimes against both Alan Parsons, president of the board of the Renton Civic Theatre, and George William “Bill” Huls, having served as the artistic director at the theater and vice chair of the Renton Municipal Arts Commission.
The Renton Civic Theatre announced a complete severing of ties with Huls on Aug. 21.
The City of Renton’s list of boards, commissions, and committee members no longer lists Huls as of an Aug. 23 update to the website.
The Renton Civic Theatre posted a statement regarding the matters on social media.
“Given recent events, we have several issues to address. The first is this: as of today, Bill Huls is no longer affiliated with Renton Civic Theatre,” the statement read. “We have a lot to sort through, but further decisions are coming. Thank you for your patience while we work through this.”
The theater’s statement provided no information on decisions regarding director Parsons’s role moving forward.
Kitsap County prosecutors charged Huls with two counts of first degree rape of a child after his arrest on Oct. 5, 1990, for incidents within a period from February to May in 1988.
Huls accepted a plea agreement in the case on Oct. 26, 1990, with his sentencing held on Feb. 21, 1991. The court sentenced Huls to 41 months in confinement, with his sentence suspended and the court opting to place Huls on community custody for 60 months and sentencing him to six months in the Kitsap County Corrections Center.
According to court documents, Parsons pleaded guilty in the King County Superior Court’s Juvenile Court on Feb. 3, 2006, to three counts of child molestation in the first degree.
According to documents, Parsons pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with a “victim” younger than 12 years old, being more than 36 months older than the victim.
Parsons’s age, within the timespan of the incidents provided, ranged between 15 and 17 years old, with the victim’s age ranging between 3 years old and 5 years old.
“Between [Jan. 1, 2004 and Oct. 3, 2005] I had sexual contact with N.K.L. for the purpose of sexual gratification,” Parsons’s plea statement read.
The court ordered Parsons to participate in sex offender treatment on a 24-month period of community supervision, suspending a 30- to 40-week sentence.
The Renton Civic Theatre provided no timeline for future decisions.
As of Aug. 25, the Renton Civic Theatre’s website lists three members on the Board of Directors — treasurer Jentra Smith, secretary James Tierney, and Dane Gill.
