Kidnapper pleads guilty to 2018 crimes

Christopher Fitzpatrick was the last suspect to admit having sexually exploited a local teenager.

The final suspect involved in the 2018 kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a Bonney Lake teen has pled guilty to all charges.

Christopher Russell Fitzpatrick, 41, entered his plea on Jan. 31, 2020, admitting to first degree kidnapping, promoting the sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of third-degree rape of a child, providing controlled substances to a minor, and possessing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; prosecutors recommended a sentence of more than 16 years.

Fitzpatrick’s victim was Lily Christopherson, who went missing early May 2018. It was revealed later she traveled with a friend from Bonney Lake to Federal Way in what appeared to be a planned meet-up with Fitzpatrick and Maria Counts, another defendant who pled guilty to all charges early last year. Eventually, Christopherson’s friend left, leaving her with Fitzpatrick and Counts.

After nearly an entire month of searching, police found and arrested Counts in Tumwater on May 24, 2018. Two days later, Fitzpatrick was arrested in Lakewood.

Unfortunately, Christopherson was not with either of them, and the search continued until a passerby in Puyallup recognized her and alerted police via Twitter on July 3.