PULLMAN, WA – Calling the civil dispute over the ending of an affair between a Pullman woman and Pullman’s Police Chief who is on administrative leave embarrassing, the judge has denied their requests for protection orders against each other.
Stephanie Rink filed a civil protection order request in December against Jake Opgenorth based on allegations of sexual assault. The filing in Whitman County Superior Court came days after Opgenorth was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Washington State Patrol. Rink’s initial filing alleged that Opgenorth sexually assaulted her when she gave in to his advances. The two had an affair for about three years before their breakup last November. Opgenorth is married.
Now retired Judge Gary Libey granted Rink a temporary protection order before the entire civil case could be argued for a permanent order. New Judge Roger Sandberg presided over the hearing on Wednesday to decide a permanent protection order for Rink against Opgenorth.
Rink’s initial filing in December included a few dozen text messages which she claimed proves that Opgenorth admits to raping her. There are about 90,000 texts between Rink and Opgenorth and hundreds of additional messages were submitted to the court after the initial filing. Those additional texts that the court ordered be turned over shows that on other occasions Rink told Opgenorth that he never harmed her and she continued to seek sexual contact. Judge Sandberg in his ruling denying Rink’s protection order request found that she tried to hide messages to mislead the court.
When Opgenorth ended their affair in November Rink sent him a string of 80 messages and went to his home the next day. Evidence showed that Rink’s attempts to reach Opgenorth to apparently try to stay together forced him to change his phone number after he asked her to stop contacting him.
A separate criminal case in Pennsylvania against Rink was brought to light by Opgenorth’s attorney during the court hearing Wednesday. According to the Pennsylvania online court docket system, Rink is charged with eight counts involving theft and embezzlement allegations in Philadelphia. Those charges were filed in January of last year and Rink was arrested last summer and placed on 100,000 dollars bond. Opgenorth’s attorney testified that he paid Rink 2,500 dollars toward her bond and has since asked for the money back but she hasn’t returned it. Judge Sandberg mentioned the serious criminal charges against Rink as he detailed his finding that she was not credible.
Opgenorth’s attorney cited Rink’s alleged harassment following their break up as grounds for a protection order against her.
Judge Sandberg called the entire case “embarrassing” and the parties “childish” and did not find enough preponderance of the evidence in civil court to grant either party a protection order.
The Washington State Patrol is still investigating Opgenorth who remains on leave as Pullman’s Police Chief. Details of that investigation are not being made public. It was confirmed in court Wednesday that the breakup is part of the WSP investigation as troopers have interviewed Rink. Her attorney told Judge Sandberg that a trooper recommended that Rink seek a protection order against Opgenorth.
