Club-wrestling referee charged

Police suspect a Lake Stevens club-wrestling referee may have had sexual contact with as many as 50 teenage wrestlers over the past decade, sometimes exchanging drugs and alcohol for sex, according to a booking document.

Brian Garvie, 39, of Lake Stevens was charged in Snohomish County District Court in Everett on Tuesday with one count of second-degree child rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and seven counts of possessing child pornography.

Police became aware of Garvie after Lake Stevens High School Principal Ken Collins investigated rumors about the referee, according to the booking document.

Collins took the information he had gathered to the Lake Stevens Police Department, which referred the matter to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation and trying to determine the scope of the case, spokesman Rich Niebusch said.

Garvie told police after his arrest Thursday that he has been a referee for club wrestling since about 1989, according to the booking document.

Garvie officiated matches that took place in the spring and summer after the high-school wrestling season ended, said Lake Stevens School District spokeswoman Arlene Hulten.

Club tournaments take place nearly every weekend from late February until June or so, said Bette Lampers, treasurer for USA Everett Wrestling Club.

Hulten stressed that Garvie was not a Lake Stevens School District volunteer, employee or coach, but she said the district is continuing to work with the Sheriff's Office on the investigation.

Booking papers for Garvie, obtained through a public-records request from the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office, say police suspect him of grooming at least one Sedro-Woolley wrestler for years, eventually offering him alcohol and drugs.

Garvie allegedly had the boy perform sex acts in exchange for drugs, according to the document.

Lampers said she was familiar with Garvie and had wondered about his long association with club wrestling.

"Usually the people who are involved in the clubs are dads and moms whose kids are wrestling," she said.

Lampers' son, Ross, a senior at Monroe High School and a wrestler, said he has known Garvie for a long time.

He said Garvie would help wrestlers with their moves and talk to them at the tournaments.

He said Garvie often had wrestlers over to his house near Lake Stevens. Ross Lampers said he went to Garvie's house once but didn't stay long.

Bette Lampers said that since the news about Garvie's arrest, she has heard that parents were concerned about trips that Garvie had taken with their children to out-of-state tournaments.

"I do know that there were parents that trusted him," she said.

Hulten, of the Lake Stevens School District, said parents or students who knew Garvie should call the Sheriff's Office if they recall anything that might have seemed suspicious.

Brian Alexander: 425-745-7845 or balexander@seattletimes.com