UPDATE: $3M Bail Set for Attorney in Rape of Massage Therapists in Bellevue, Shoreline, Seattle

Bail was set at $3 million Wednesday for Seattle attorney Danford D. Grant, who is accused of raping three massage therapists--including last month's attack of a Bellevue massage therapist and the rape of a Shoreline massage therapist at her home.

King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Val Richey requested that bail be set at $1 million for each victim because the victims felt threatened and intimidated before and after the rape.

The Shoreline woman was attacked in her home, and the Bellevue victim told investigators that Grant knew her husband's name and where they lived, according to court documents.

Grant's defense attorney, David Allen, in arguing for lower bail pointed out that Grant had no prior record and had family ties to the community, including a wife and mother in Seattle.

After the appearance in King County Superior Court, Allen said that his client is innocent, and did not know why the employees at the massage business tried to detain him on Monday.

King County Superior Court Judge Mark C. Chow found probable cause, set bail at $3 million, and required that Grant wear a monitor if he posts bail. The deadline to file formal charges is Thursday, according to a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Grant, 47, is a partner in the Bailey Grant Onsager law firm in Seattle. According to his bio on the website, Grant focuses on employment and business litigation and has represented business and public groups including the Olympic Pipe Line Company, MEDNAX Services, Pediatrix Medical Group, American Anesthesiology, Columbia Physical Therapy, Green River Community College.

According to police reports, Grant was arrested Monday at the Carnation Massage Clinic, at 602 N.W. 85th St. in Seattle. Witnesses told investigators that he raped one of the massage therapists at knifepoint, and employees tried to detain him as they called police. Grant tried to run, but police caught him after a chase, reports said. The therapist told police that Grant had sexually assaulted her previously at the business.

That incident came less than a month after an Aug. 28 incident, in which a Bellevue massage therapist told police she was sexually assaulted at knifepoint, Bellevue police reported.

The woman, 45, told police that the suspect scheduled a massage at the business in the 15200 block of N.E. 20th St. and started to make sexual advances toward her during the appointment.

According to the police department, when the woman refused his offer, he grew angry, threatened her with a pocket knife and proceeded to sexually assault her. The victim told police she recognized him as being a past client of the business, but she didn't know his name, police said.  He had come to the business using multiple names, according to the court documents.

Grant is a longtime attorney who has practiced in the Seattle area, including getting a master of laws degree from the University of Washington in 1996 an focusing on employment litigation in the Seattle City Attorney's Office from 1996 to 2000, according to his Linked In profile. Grant became one of the named shareholders of Bailey Grant Onsager earlier this year, according to the law firm's website.

Grant's focus is on employment and business litigation, including discrimination, business torts, noncompete agreements, and business ownership disputes.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct earlier details.

Get Bellevue news updates in your Facebook and Twitter feeds.