Kitsap Judge Ferguson-Brown to Rule on Former Edmonds College Instructor’s Bid to Dismiss Child Sex Charges

Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown is scheduled to rule on November 6, 2026 on a former Edmonds College instructor’s bid to dismiss child sex charges over an NCIS agent’s role in the undercover investigation.

Houston Wade, 45, of Bainbridge Island, was arrested Dec. 17, 2025. Police allege he arranged to meet someone he believed was an 11-year-old girl for sexual contact. The person posing as the child was an undercover agent.

Judge Ferguson-Brown took the suppression and dismissal motion under advisement on September 25. 

Wade’s attorneys argue in their July 28 motion that Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Kelsey Main investigated a civilian without a legitimate military purpose, violating the Posse Comitatus Act and related restrictions on military participation in civilian law enforcement.

They contend that Main’s undercover communications supplied the foundation for Bremerton police to obtain search warrants. 

The defense asks Judge Ferguson-Brown to exclude evidence derived from Main’s investigation, arguing that prosecutors would then lack sufficient evidence to proceed. It seeks dismissal of all charges with prejudice, preventing their refiling.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Breanna Wilson disputes both the alleged violation and the requested remedy. In an August 10 response, she argued that the restrictions do not apply to civilian NCIS agents as the defense claims. 

Main participated in voluntary online conversations and referred evidence to local police, who obtained the warrants and made the arrest, Wilson wrote.

The state also argues that Main presented her undercover persona as the child of a Navy sailor, establishing a military connection. Prosecutors contend that suppression would not be justified even if a violation were found.

Prosecutors separately argue that accounts from alleged victims identified later should remain admissible even if other evidence is excluded. 

Their response alleges that Wade had sex with a girl who was 16 at the time and offered her money and gifts. They contend that her voluntary cooperation is sufficiently removed from the challenged NCIS work to allow her account to be used.

The original charging document accused Wade of attempted first-degree child molestation and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. 

The Kitsap County jail roster also lists two counts of commercial sexual abuse of a minor and a felony count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes under the same court case number.

Wade worked as a part-time faculty member at Edmonds College from spring 2019 through spring 2022. He taught physics and astronomy.

According to the police report accompanying the original charges, the undercover conversations began on the Hush app in August 2025 and moved to Kik. Police alleged that Wade discussed sexual acts and arranged a meeting near a skate park in Bremerton’s East Park.

Investigators reported that he stopped at a Silverdale hotel before driving to the meeting location. Police said a search of the hotel room turned up condoms, sexual devices and bondage straps. 

The report also records Wade telling investigators that he had become lost while trying to go to dinner.

Judge Ferguson-Brown, who has also served as a visiting judge in Clallam County, has faced criticism in previous Olympic Herald coverage of her bail and sentencing decisions.

In June, The Herald reported that Judge Ferguson-Brown suspended a 78-month prison term for a man after he pleaded guilty to first and second-degree child molestation in a case involving two children and abuse spanning several years. 

Under a special sex offender sentencing alternative, she ordered 12 months in county jail with credit for time served, community custody and outpatient treatment.

State law permits that alternative for eligible offenders. It also allows a court to revoke the suspended sentence during community custody if the offender violates its conditions or fails to make satisfactory progress in treatment.

The Herald also reported that Ferguson-Brown set $5,000 bail in the 2023 Mason County case against a woman who was accused of repeatedly shooting her boyfriend.

In another case, The Herald reported in July that Ferguson-Brown sentenced a man to 34 months in prison for possessing child sexual abuse material. That term matched the recommendation of the prosecutor and the Department of Corrections.

The pending motion in Wade’s case asks Judge Ferguson-Brown to decide whether evidence must be excluded and the charges dismissed.

Her oral decision is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. November 6 in Department 8 at Kitsap County Superior Court in Port Orchard.