Cops release public alert on Hillsboro man accused of raping teen he met online

A Hillsboro man is being held without bail and faces more than 20 charges including rape and coercion in the alleged yearslong abuse of a woman he met online when she was 13, authorities said Wednesday.

Seth Winkelhake, 40, solicited sexually explicit images from the girl and then threatened to share those with her friends and family members to force her to maintain contact with him and eventually meet him, court documents allege.

Clackamas County sheriff’s officials said the abuse occurred near Oak Grove. They released a photo and description of Winkelhake, saying they believe there may be other victims in the case but didn’t elaborate.

Seth Winkelhake, 40, was arrested Tuesday and faces 23 charges for allegedly raping and abusing a woman he met online when she was 13. He appeared Wednesday, June 11, 2025 in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office

According to his

LinkedIn profile

, Winkelhake works as a public affairs specialist at

Clean Water Services

, Washington County’s sewer agency. He has volunteered with local educational organizations in the Portland area, including Fernhill in Forest Grove, Friends of Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge and the Tualatin Hills Nature Center, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Winkelhake has used the names “Jeff,” “Don Jon” and “Marc” online and detectives believe he uses multiple accounts on social media apps such as AntiLand, Facebook and Instagram, according to the sheriff’s office. He is associated with a white 2019 Nissan Frontier and a black 2002 Volkswagen Golf, investigators said.

Clackamas County deputies arrested Winkelhake at his home Tuesday, and he is being held at the Clackamas County Jail. He is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds with red hair and blue eyes.

Winkelhake appeared Wednesday in Clackamas County Circuit Court. Court records did not list a defense attorney or indicate if Winkelhake entered a plea.

The 23 charges against Winkelhake include two counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sex abuse, three counts of strangulation, two counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, first-degree sodomy and coercion.

A spokesperson for Clean Water Services did not respond to requests for comment, including whether Winkelhake remains employed at the agency. One

article

on the agency’s website in April quotes Winkelhake — who is identified as an “education and volunteer specialist” — talking about his work with students. His LinkedIn profile also details volunteer work with several local environmental organizations, including work with schools and other youth programs.

A detention memo filed in court alleges Winkelhake met the girl, identified only as A.K.S., in an online chat in 2018. He was 33 but told her he was in his 20s, and they began messaging and he solicited graphic images of her, the memo states.

In 2021, he convinced the girl when she was 16 to meet in person and then abused her over the next several years, demanding to meet as often as every other week and taking her to Clackamas County parks, according to the memo and sheriff’s officials.

Winkelhake would cover his face and use multiple fake names at each of their meetups, sometimes blindfolding the girl before putting her in his car, authorities said.

She tried to end the contact and finally did when she was 19 in 2024, the court records state. She documented her injuries in photos and accounts in diary entries, the memo says.

Investigators used Instagram and other online apps to determine Winkelhake’s IP address, location and identity, then searched his home on Tuesday, authorities said.