Police: McMinnville elementary teacher arrested for attempted rape in Washington

REDMOND, Wash. (KPTV) - A McMinnville elementary teacher is facing charges including attempted rape for allegedly trying to meet two teenagers for sex in Redmond, Washington.

The Redmond Police Department said detectives were posing undercover as minors on social networking/dating apps when they began communicating with 50-year-old Andrew Hammond, a fourth grade teacher at a McMinnville elementary school.

Police said the conversations began in Oct. 2021 and Hammond was told several times that he was talking with a 14-year-old girl. Several months later, Hammond reportedly began talking with a second Redmond detective, whom he believed was 13 years old.

According to police, Hammond engaged in sexually motivated conversations with the detectives, believing they were minors.

After months of talking, police said Hammond proposed meeting with the minors at a hotel in Redmond on March 25 to engage in sexual activity. He was arrested after checking into his hotel room.

Officers located evidence indicating Hammond was planning to engage in sexual activity with the minors, including condoms, lubricant, handcuffs, and duct tape, according to police.

Hammond was booked into the King County Correctional Facility for four counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes, second-degree attempted rape of a child, and third-degree attempted rape of a child. He is being held on $100,000 bail.

Hammond is charged with four counts of Communication with a Minor for Immoral Purposes, Attempted Rape of a Child in the second degree, and Attempted Rape of a Child in the third degree. He is being held at King County Correctional Facility on $100,000 bail.

FOX 12 has reached out to the McMinnville School District for comment on Hammond’s arrest. The district sent a statement saying, in part, “McMinnville School District has been informed by law enforcement that one of our employees was arrested in Washington State. At this time, we have no information about any illegal activity in McMinnville... We are cooperating fully with law enforcement in the investigation. [Hammond] has been placed on administrative leave.”

The district also said: “[Hammond] is a first-year elementary teacher in our district and has not been involved in any district after-school activities or other student contact positions. The families in the teacher’s class have been notified by the school.”