Man Who Played Santa Charged In Child Rape -- Molestation Cases May Go Back 26 Years

He was everybody's favorite neighbor - trusted baby-sitter for the little ones, church volunteer, holiday Santa, the first to greet newcomers with a welcoming gift.

That 71-year-old Ronald C. McDonald has been charged with two counts of first-degree child rape has stunned many who know him in his Lake Forest Park community.

"When our son died, they were the first ones to come up the hill," neighbor Lonny Justesen said this morning of McDonald and his family.

Penny Mercier, who has lived across the street from McDonald for more than three decades, said she so trusted him that she named him in her will to care for her children if anything happened to her.

"I'm trying to figure out how this could be," Mercier said. "I'm saying, `Please God, why didn't I see anything?' "

Crimes may go back 26 years

Lake Forest Police said McDonald gave them a statement in front of family members last week that he has molested eight children over the past six years. Prosecutors say his crimes could go as far back as 26 years.

For more than a decade, McDonald served as a holiday Santa at the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre mall. But this morning, Dan Donahoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office, said "it doesn't appear the crimes occurred in his role as Santa Claus.

"It would appear they are more neighborhood-oriented crimes."

He emphasized, though, that an investigation is continuing.

McDonald is accused of twice raping a 6-year-old girl in his home sometime since Sept. 1. Police are investigating allegations he molested seven other children.

He is being held in the King County Jail. Prosecutors have requested a $250,000 cash bail, and they want him barred from having contact with children. Arraignment was set for Oct. 29.

Besides playing Santa, McDonald has been involved in other volunteer activities with children, according to documents filed with the charges.

According to those papers, he was a volunteer child-care worker at the University of Washington Medical Center. However, the medical center could confirm only that he was a full-time maintenance worker from 1959 to 1983 and worked occasionally in recent years.

Steve Orcutt, assistant administrator of the medical center, said a security-records check was performed on McDonald, an occasional worker in his old job, in March 1996 and revealed nothing.

Volunteered in church nursery

McDonald also was active in the child nursery at Bethany Baptist Church of Kenmore, where he helped care for 2- and 3-year-olds.

This morning, pastor Steve Ritter said police and church officials have no reason to believe McDonald molested children at the nursery.

"Based on our thorough investigation, none of this occurred on church premises or at any church-related function," Ritter said.

In McDonald's secluded Lake Forest Park neighborhood above Northeast Bothell Way, residents were in disbelief.

They described McDonald as popular, helpful and a gifted artist who would spend hours carving soapstone statues.

"Ron came over the day we moved in," said Mercier. "They were the sort of people that if they saw you floundering, they would be there to help you pick up the pieces."

Last night, the curtains in the white house where McDonald and his wife have lived for more than 30 years were drawn yesterday. Neighbors said they had heard the family left the state.

"I just don't know who to trust anymore. I hope it's not true," said neighbor Justesen.

Neighbor kids flocked to him

He said McDonald's house and garden were always filled with children and that McDonald would take walks down the street with kids walking beside him, on his back in a backpack and being pushed in a stroller.

Mercier last night described a man who could use sign language with hearing-impaired children and speak Vietnamese to young refugees.

Mercier said McDonald loved rhubarb pie, and had given her family a rhubarb plant soon after they moved into the neighborhood.

"We used to joke about it. I made pies for him because he had given me the plant," Mercier said.

"The kids sure seemed to like him. They always seemed to think going down there was a big, fun time," said neighbor Richard Joslin. "I never saw anything weird or strange."

"He's a Christian type of gentleman," added Kathy Zabukovec.

But one teenage neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said she found the charges upsetting but not surprising.

Young neighbor stopped visiting

She said she used to play at McDonald's house, but stopped going there.

"It was like he was luring kids there. He had every doll imaginable, every kind of toy. He had 300 kid movies," she said.

"When you look back at it, it isn't normal for grownups to want kids around all the time," she said.

If convicted, McDonald faces between seven and nine years in prison, though that could grow if more charges are filed.

Do malls check Santas?

A mall official could not be reached for comment today on whether the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre did a background check on McDonald.

But other area malls, including Northgate and Southcenter, turn to a private local firm, Arthur & Associates, to supply mall Santas and photo service.

Jason Viydo, vice president at Arthur & Associates, said his company conducts personal interviews, checks references and does a Washington State Patrol background check on applicants.

"We've never had a problem on any of ours," Viydo said. "I'm sure if any of our applicants had criminal histories, the State Patrol check would uncover that and they'd let us know about it."

The American Heart Association of Washington for years has provided Santas for company parties and private holiday parties in exchange for donations to the association.

Tracy Abel of the association said its Santas must submit at least two references and attend a two-hour training session, though no State Patrol background check is done.

"Basically, most of ours are references from previous Santas," Abel said. "The thing that sets us apart from Santas at the mall is that ours are with a group in a group setting.

"We've never had any complaints," she added. "We work really hard at checking references and screening the Santas."

Police are asking parents with concerns or questions about the McDonald case to call the King County Sexual Assault Resource Unit at 1-800-825-7273.

Christine Clarridge's phone message number is 206-464-8983. Her e-mail address is: ccla-new@seatimes.com