Ilwaco fire chief faces 37 charges with more possible

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, January 13, 2026

SOUTH BEND — Many more details have emerged in the arrest of Ocean Park resident Jeffrey S. Archer, 43, who as of reporting was still chief of the Ilwaco Fire Department. He appeared for a preliminary hearing in Pacific County Superior Court on Monday afternoon, Jan. 12.

Archer was arrested by the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office during a ‘secretive operation’ carried out throughout the day on Jan. 9. He was booked into Pacific County Jail at 11:50 p.m. on Jan. 9.

According to court documents, Archer is facing 37 charges, which include 10 counts of first-degree rape of a child, 21 counts of first-degree child molestation, four counts of second-degree child molestation, one count of dealing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and one count of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The offenses date as far back as June 2013. The most recent offense charged so far is alleged to have occurred in December 2019.

“Both victims disclosed that while they were being babysat by [Archer] for [their parent], they were molested and/or raped by [Archer] at his residence located [on the 29000 block of] L Lane [in] Ocean Park in Pacific County, WA,” PCSO Det. Kevin Acdal said in court documents.

According to court records, there are three known victims who were approximately between the ages of 2 to 14 years old at the time of the sexual assaults.

“[One victim] further disclosed being provided compensation and/or marijuana and alcohol by [Archer] for allowing him to perform sexual acts [on him] …,” Acdal said in court documents.

“Due to the frequency of [Archer] molesting [him], [an alleged victim] had difficulties recalling the total amount of times it occurred,” Acdal added.

One of the alleged victims told Acdal that there may be two additional victims, one of whom they had direct knowledge about being sexually assaulted.

“[An alleged victim] stated that around the beginning of August of 2019, every weekend he was sexually assaulted by [Archer],” Acdal said in court documents.

“Based on the information [the alleged victim] provided, it was outlined to me that there was a five-month period in 2019 that [Archer] was continually sexually abusing [the alleged victim],” Acdal added.

During Archer’s preliminary appearance at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, Pacific County Prosecutor’s Office Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Zorn informed the court there may be more victims.

“We are asking for bail to be set at $1 million,” Zorn said. “We do believe that he is a flight risk. He does not have any criminal history but the nature of these charges are quite serious. There are three named victims right now. Before I came up here today, we think that is going to increase to eight since this information has come out.”

Zorn also asked for orders to protect the victims from any contact from Archer and for him to surrender his passport.

Archer was represented at the hearing by attorney Edward Penoyar, who is contracted to only represent defendants at their preliminary hearings. He asked for leeway in the bail amount against Archer — and did not object to him surrendering his passport.

“We would ask for a lower bail in the amount of $100,000,” Penoyar said. “The defendant is the fire chief for Ilwaco. He has been in the area for a very long time. He owns a home here. Given the lack of criminal history, we do not believe a $1 million [bail] would be warranted. Thank you.”

The decision rested on the shoulders of Judge Donald J. Richter.

“The nature of the charges… The number of victims… The length of alleged conduct all makes this a very serious allegation,” Richter said. “Of course, Mr. Archer is presumed innocent of any allegation at this time. The court is allowed to review that information as it makes its determination as to pretrial release. The sentence, and in fact plea, can be given up to life in prison.”

“Mr. Archer is a long-time resident of this area and has ties to the community. So that, at this point, is relevant history. I will set bail at $500,000 and I believe that weighs the nature of the charges, the serious nature of protecting community members as well as the threat of non-appearance,” Richter added.

Among the pretrial stipulations, Richter ordered protection orders to protect all the alleged victims from any contact from Archer.

Archer is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Jan. 16.

He was placed on administrative leave from his position as Ilwaco fire chief on Jan. 9, city officials confirmed on Monday.

Two of the five members of the Ilwaco City Council called on Eddie Hillard, the city’s new mayor, to immediately fire Archer at the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on the evening of Jan. 12. Councilor Matt Lessnau introduced a resolution calling on Archer’s termination at the meeting, although a final vote was not held after Lessnau acknowledged it did not currently have the backing of a majority of the council.