Former Ephrata resident sentenced in two cases

EPHRATA - A Spokane man was sentenced for rape of a child, child molestation and vehicular assault last week in Grant County Superior Court.

Kevin Bruce Kehn, 22, pleaded guilty in both cases and lived in Ephrata during the incidents.

Kehn was sentenced by Grant County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Jorgensen to more than nine years in prison for molesting his sister between 1996 and 2004, and a 2006 crash on state Route 17 between Moses Lake and Ephrata.

Jorgensen also sentenced Kehn to 36 months of community custody for the molestation and rape charges.

The vehicular assault charges stem from a crash on Nov. 9, 2006, when Kehn, Tyler D. Bishop, Nicole Miranda and Shante Miranda were traveling north on state Route 17, according to Grant County Superior Court records.

Kehn was riding in the front passenger's seat when he grabbed the steering wheel and spun it, causing the car to spin into oncoming traffic, court records indicate. When Bishop tried to get control of the vehicle he overcorrected causing it to spin in the other direction and rolling the vehicle when it left the highway.

Kehn and Shante Miranda were thrown from the vehicle.

Kehn fractured his lower back and pelvis, court records indicated.

Shante Miranda had cuts and scraps to her arms, a broken thumb, a laceration to her liver and a third-degree burn on her hip, according to court documents.

Nicole Miranda received abrasions to her face and stomach.

Bishop had lacerations to his head and arms, according to police reports.

Bishop also was charged with vehicular assault, but has not appeared in court. There is a bench warrant for his arrest.

The rape of a child and child molestation charges were related to a 2007 case. Kehn abused his sister starting when she was in second grade and continued until her freshman year in high school, according to Grant County Superior Court records.

At the time, they lived in the same house and he threatened her, saying he would tell their mother, and bribed her with candy, according to police reports.

When the police asked him about the incidents, he stated he had a hard time remembering because of the 2006 accident, according to court records. Later, he stated he thought it was consensual.