A Cheney man has been sentenced to 17 years to life in prison for raping and molesting children.

William D. Hargrove, 48, was convicted of first- and second-degree child rape and first- and second-degree child molestation after a bench trial last week before Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt.

Hargrove was accused of raping two girls for most of their childhoods. One reported knife-point attacks, according to court documents.

Cheney police were alerted to the abuse in August 2008.

Hargrove was sentenced Monday to 210 months in prison. He must undergo a sexual deviance assessment before he's released, which could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.
  

A state social services employee arrested on child pornography charges April 17 has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Darrell J. Rogers, 51, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of distribution of child pornography. The charges carry five years to 20 years in prison and registration as a sex offender if convicted. 

Rogers, a married father with no criminal history, was allowed to leave jail a few days after his arrest after undergoing a mental health assessment.

A prosecutor said the material federal agents downloaded from Rogers, who licenses foster homes for children, is some of the worst he's encountered in his 36 years of practicing law.

A Spokane man who stole a handgun from Spokane County sheriff's detective's squad car has been sentenced to about three years in prison.

A judge recommended James Warren Peterschick, 30, undergo drug treatment and be placed in a federal prison with a medical facility in hopes of addressing what his lawyer described as a lifetime of mental problems.

“Mr. Peterschick was doomed from the start,” his lawyer, Robert Fischer, wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Fischer referenced a doctor's report detailing Peterschick's troubled life.

“Reading this is reminiscent of a Charles Dickens novel that tragically doesn’t wind up with a happy ending,” Fischer wrote.

Peterschick was abused by several people as a child and began using methamphetamine when he was 13 or 14, according to the report.

“When James was nine years old his mother moved to Dallas, Texas, taking him with her to “start fresh,” Fischer wrote. “His mother managed to find a new boyfriend that she stayed drunk with for the next fifteen years.”

Peterschick is described as “a functional illiterate with below average intelligence” who suffers from auditory visual and kinesthetic hallucinations.

In addition to 33 months in prison, Peterschick was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation. He still has pending drug and stolen property cases in Spokane County Superior Court; he'll likely serve those sentences the same time as his federal sentence.

Peterschick smashed out a window on Detective Leroy Fairbanks' government-issued vehicle April 21, 2011, at 5830 N. Division St. and stole fishing poles and a backpack containing electronics, a Glock handgun, handcuffs, a flashlight, badge and IDs for the Sheriff’s Office and FBI.

A jail inmate looking for a break on drug charges told detectives of a dumpster at Garland Avenue and Post Street where most of the items had been dumped.

Peterschick also was arrested in February 2010 for a suspected burglary spree in Pullman.

A state social services employee accused of distributing child pornography must undergo a mental health evaluation before he can leave jail, a judge ruled today.

A federal prosecutor said the material distributed by Darrell J. Rogers, who licenses foster homes for children, is some of the worst he's encountered in his 36 years of practicing law.

“This is not normal child pornography,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks said at Rogers' bail hearing in U.S. District Court. “This is child pornography that is very disturbing.”

The material includes a video of a 3-month-old girl being raped by an adult male, Hicks said.

“This is not like trading baseball cards,” Hicks said. “What kind of person would have an interest in this?…Most people are disgusted by it, and most people would ask 'what's wrong with this person?'”

Rogers, 51, is a married father of two with no criminal history. He's lived in Spokane his entire life and has worked for the state Department of Health and Human Services since 1995. Family, friends and coworkers attended his hearing; some left afterward in tears.

Distributing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for each image.

U.S Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno will review Rogers' mental health evaluation. Rogers and his wife must pay $25,000 bond to secure his release from jail. If he is released, Rogers will be confined to his home and must wear an electric monitor. Firearms that FBI agents found in his home during a search on Tuesday must be removed.

Imbrogno called the conditions “perhaps about as stringent as they get for this type of charge,” she said.

Hicks cited Rogers’ employment as a person in a position of trust with children as further reason for a mental health evaluation.

“He's leading a double life, in effect,” Hicks said.

A DSHS spokesman said Rogers will be reassigned to a position in which he does not have contact with children if he's released from jail pending the resolution of his case. Imbrogno said she'll decide if Rogers can be employed after reading his evaluation.

Rogers has been in the Spokane County Jail since Tuesday, when FBI agents arrested him at his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail area in north Spokane and seized a computer containing sexually explicit images of children.

The FBI began investigating him in February after an agent in Maryland downloaded child pornography from an Internet Protocol address linked to Rogers' home.

The material features the infant and children up to six years old, Hicks said.

Rogers told the FBI the material was on a computer in the guest bedroom when questioned, Hicks said.

Rogers also told investigators he'd never hurt a child and would contact authorities if he knew of someone who was. He said he wasn't sexually attracted to children but was “trying to figure out” child pornography.

Hicks said Rogers' response was typical “even from people who have been diagnosed as pedophiles.”

“I'm not saying Rogers is; I'm saying that's a typical response,” Hicks said.

He called the assertion that viewing and distributing child pornography doesn't harm children “bunk.”

“Fifty-one-year-olds creating generations of pedophiles. If we look at the facts, that’s what happens in a lot of circumstances,” Hicks said.

Public defender Matthew Campbell said a mental health evaluation isn't necessary and said Rogers is not a danger to the community. “He has no criminal history,” Campbell said.

Campbell said prosecutors have not opposed pre-trial release in other child pornography cases, but Hicks said the cases didn't involve three month olds being raped by adult males.

A state social services employee who licenses foster care homes was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child pornography possession.

Darrell J. Rogers, 51, is in the Spokane County Jail without bail after appearing in U.S. District Court Tuesday afternoon. FBI agents arrested him at his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail area in north Spokane, where he lives with his wife, Kim Rogers, 49.

Kim Rogers also is a social worker with the state Department of Social and Health Services who specializes in finding homes for children who are wards of the state. Her husband licenses those homes, a neighbor said.

Darrell Rogers told FBI agents his wife had nothing to do with the child pornography they were investigating, according to court documents. The FBI began investigating Rogers in February after an agent in Maryland downloaded child pornography from an Internet user in Spokane.

The material includes children as young as approximately three months old being sexually assaulted by men and women.

Darrell Rogers was a social worker for 10 years beginning in 1995, said Thomas Shapley, DSHS spokesman. He began licensing foster homes in 2005, Shapley said.

Rogers is barred from entering his workplace, and his computer access has been locked. Should he be released from jail pending the resolution of the case, “we've already prepared an alternative work assignment for him where he would not have any contact with children,” Shapley said.

FBI agents say Rogers admitted Tuesday to using Internet file sharing programs and said no one else in the home, including his wife and two sons, would have used the screen names associated with the explicit material.

“Agents asked if he knew of any really bad people who he traded with that specifically harmed children,” according to court documents. “Rogers responded that he did not know of anyone who was abusing children, and had he known he would have reported it.”

Rogers told federal agents he had had no sexual interest in the material but was “trying to figure it out,” documents say.

“When asked about how long he had an interest in child pornography, Rogers stated that he did not know, and that he would never touch a child, and would never molest children,” agents wrote.

Rogers is due back in court Friday for a hearing to determine if he can be allowed out of jail on bail pending trial.

A 22-year-old Spokane man accused of assaulting his infant daughter will remain jailed on $250,000 bond, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Joshua E. Gillis is in the Spokane County Jail after he was arrested in Texas last week by federal marshals at the request of Spokane police.

Gillis is accused of assaulting his daughter in January. He and the girl's mother, Ashley B. Huston, brought the girl to a hospital with multiple skull fractures, a fractured right shoulder and a spiral fracture to her right thigh, police say. They told doctors the girl was anemic.

GIllis is charged with two counts of second-degree child assault.

A Spokane Valley man was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Jonathan Stocker, 30, was indicted September after a May 31 federal search of his home found 24 videos and images of children engaged in sex acts, according to court records.

Stocker is not in jail and is being allowed to self report to federal prison. A sentencing memorandum described him as a man who “pays his taxes and his bills and lives modestly.”

“He has no history of abuse of children and in fact, his friends and family who have children, report that he acts appropriately,” according to the memo prepared by his public defender. “There is no indication that Mr. Stocker presents a danger to anyone.”

Stocker was prosecuted under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Harrington said in a news release.

  

A 22-year-old Spokane man accused of assaulting his infant daughter was arrested this week in Texas.

Joshua E. Gillis is awaiting extradition to Spokane on a $250,000 warrant for first-degree child abuse.

Federal agents in Houston located him there at the request of Spokane police, U.S. Marshal Bob Doty said today.

Gillis is accused of assaulting his daughter in January. He and the girl's mother, Ashley B. Huston, brought the girl to a hospital with multiple skull fractures, a fractured right shoulder and a spiral fracture to her right thigh, police say. They told doctors the girl was anemic.

Police searched the couple's home at 123 E. Baldwin Ave., and seized evidence of the alleged assault, as well as nine marijuana plants.

Prosecutors charged GIllis Feb. 22.

A Hayden Lake man is to spend more than six years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Charley Brigham Leighton II, 41, also is to be on probation for 15 years, forfeit the computer and media used in the crime and register as a sex offender under a sentence imposed today in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene.

Investigators seized computers from Leighton's home in August 2010 that contained pornography images of children. Leighton told investigators he'd downloaded more than 1,000 images in about a year, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in October.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said the images depicted children from Missouri, Georgia, Connecticut, Michigan, Florida, Washington, France, Germany, Brazil, Belgium, England and the Netherlands, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

“Obtaining and possessing child pornography sexually exploits the children who appear in these heinous images again and again and again,” U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson said in a prepared statement.  “Mr. Leighton’s lengthy prison sentence sends a strong message that Idaho law enforcement, prosecutors and courts well understand that protecting our children against those who would exploit them is a critical criminal justice mission.”

A man was arrested for allegedly kicking his 18-month-old nephew in the face Tuesday night.

Eric S. Peters, 33, drove away from his sister's home in the 7700 block of North Colton Street drunk and with his young child in the car after the altercation but was arrested at an apartment in the 2200 block of East North Crescent Avenue, police said today.

Peters exited the apartment after an hour and a half of negation and was arrested without incident, according to police.

Peters' sister said he slapped her before her boyfriend escorted him out of the apartment and told her he'd kicked her son about 8 p.m. She said her son was screaming and had blood gushing from his nose. Doctors said the child had a mild concussion, police say. Officers observed injuries on both the child and mother.

Peters was arrested on charges of felony third-degree assault of a child and misdemeanor city assault and reckless endangerment.
  

A 25-year-old man is accused of beating his infant daughter, who was taken to a medical clinic with broken bones and other injuries.

Tyson Joseph Romaneschi told police his daughter, Ellyana, would go to sleep faster if she had been crying, so he sometimes would squeeze her up against his chest, according to court documents used to support an assault charge against him.

Read the rest of my story here.

A 23-year-old man scheduled for trial this month on child pornography charges is wanted by Crime stoppers after skipping a court hearing.

Richard B. Griffith is charged with possessing and distributing the illicit material via the Internet.

Spokane police searched his apartment in the 5200 block of South Ferrall Court on May 18 after tracking child pornography that had been posted on a file-sharing website.

The website's administrator alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of a photo uploaded by Griffith, according to court documents, and the center notified Spokane police.

Griffith told police he posted pictures on he website and “may have had some cloudy judgement,” according to court documents. He said he was “probably high at the time,” police said.

A no-bail warrant was issued for Griffith's arrest Jan. 20 after he missed a pre-trial conference on Jan. 13.

Griffith, 5-foot-7 and 190 pounds , last gave a home address in the 1000 block of Slide Creek Road in Colville, according to Crime Stoppers.

Anyone with information on his current location is asked to cal at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of a sex offender who hasn't checked in with authorities.

Robert Tom Boren, 32, was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Washington state in 1994.

He last registered as a transient in Spokane County, which means he's required to check in with authorities once a week. But he hasn't done that, and a $15,000 arrest warrant was issued Jan. 18.

Crime Stoppers offered a reward for tips on Monday.

Boren, 6-feet tall and 170 pounds, is a level 2 sex offender. Level 3 is considered the most likely to reoffend; level 1 is the least.

Anyone with information on Boren's location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online.

A 41-year-old Coeur d'Alene man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly raping a 16-year-old boy.

Sonny Novero Coley was booked into the Kootenai County Jail on charges of rape, sexual battery and sexual exploitation of a child.

Detectives received a report Tuesday that detailing Coley's alleged contact with the boy, police said Wednesday. They interviewed Coley at the police station and arrested him about 8:30 p.m.

The alleged victim knew Coley “and spent a lot of time with him,” according to a Coeur d'Alene Police Department news release.

Police did not release further details.

The parents of a baby girl who police suspect may have been abused offered no explanation for the girl's bruises and broken bones, according to court documents filed today.

Ashley B. Huston, 21, and Joshua E Gillis, 22, brought Gracie Rae Gillis to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center Friday night. Medical staff called police and reported possible child abuse after discovering multiple skull fractures, a fractured right shoulder and a spiral fracture to her right thigh, police say.

The baby, who will be four months old on Thursday, also had bruises on her forehead, chest and legs and rib fractures that appeared to be older, according to search warrants filed today in Superior Court. Her injuries aren't considered life threatening, said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

Officers say Gillis left the hospital as they arrived. Huston told officers that Gracie “bruised easily and was possibly anemic” but detectives say that doesn't explain the obvious bruising to her forehead and chest.

Huston told police she arrived home from work and found Gracie in her crib with a a limp right arm, so she took her to the hospital. Gillis was caring for the baby that day, she told police.

Detectives used the warrants to search the couple's home at 123 E. Baldwin Ave. early Saturday and, early this morning, the 1994 Ford Aerostar van in which they transported their daughter to the hospital.

Police seized nine marijuana plants from the couple's bedroom and living room.

No arrests have been made; police say the first-degree assault investigation is ongoing and Child Protective Services has been contacted.

A sex offender considered likely to reoffend is living as a transient in Spokane County, the sheriff's office announced today.

Kevin Duane Musgrove, 33, was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Spokane County in 1993. His victim was a 3-year-old boy. Musgrove was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Musgrove also has juvenile convictions for two counts of fourth-degree assault with a sexual motivation.

He is a level 3 sex offender, which is the classification considered likely to reoffend.

Musgrove is not wanted by authorities, but the sheriff's office wants the public to be aware of his presence.

Musgrove is required to check in with authorities every week because he has no permanent address.

Spokane County's sex offender registry is available here.

A child molestation suspect who escaped a manhunt in the Sagle, Idaho, area Tuesday is wanted by Coeur d'Alene police.

Nathaniel R. Howell, 32, ran from police through the woods in the 1500 block of South Sagle Road about 3 p.m. after he saw the officers while visiting relatives nearby.

Howell is charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and five counts of sexual exploitation.

Howell is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds with hazel eyes and blonde hair. Anyone with information on his location is asked to call Coeur d'Alene police at (208) 769-2320.

A soldier is accused of transporting child pornography from Spokane to Kuwait while on duty with the military.

Jason D. Talbott, 33, pleaded not guilty today to four child pornography charges in U.S. District Court in Spokane. He was allowed to stay out of jail awaiting trial and will reside in Denver, Colo., where he is stationed with the military, according to court documents.

A federal grand jury indicted Talbott Nov. 16 on charges of receipt, possession, distribution and transportation of child pornography, as well as a forfeiture charge that calls for him to relinquish a computer, an external hard drive and a digital book reader.

The charges allege Talbott receiving child pornography in Spokane Valley between June 21, 2005, and April 21, 2009, and possessing the material until March 16. He's accused of distributing the pornography between August 2010 and November 2010, and of transporting a computer with explicit images on it to Kuwait in December 2010.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Talbott's release conditions require him to stay away from minors unless another adult is present. He's prohibited from accessing the Internet unless he's required to do so by the military.

According to the Daily Mail, Talbott was identified by federal authorities after he contacted a fake website that advertised children for sex. The website was an undercover Internet sting operation designed by the Department of Homeland Security but has since been shutdown, the newspaper reports.

A 26-year-old Rathdrum man will spend at last seven years in prison for sexually abusing a minor.

Justin Scott Savage was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison with eligibility for parole after seven for lewd conduct with a minor under 16, sexual abuse of a child under 16 and two counts of injury to jail.

1st District Court Judge Fred Gibler sentenced Savage, who pleaded guilty in September. Savage has previous misdemeanor convictions for theft, drugs and burglary, according to the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office.

Sheriff's spokesman Major Ben Wolfinger said the injury to jail charges stem from Savage damaging the jail on several occasions.

A woman accused of fracturing her baby's skull at a Spokane bus station last summer is wanted on a felony warrant.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of Whitney A. Manges, 25, who a witness said was “swaying and staggering” when she picked her 7-month-old son after dropping him while trying to board a bus on Aug. 9.

The boy cried and appeared lethargic after the incident at the STA station in the 1300 block of East Sprague Avenue outside the Union Gospel Mission women's shelter. Police contacted Manges as she sat on a bench at the STA Plaza, where she said she was on Xanax and another drug she couldn't identify, according to court documents.

Police said the baby was filthy but in good physical health, but Manges was not capable of properly caring for him so he was taken by Child Protective Services. Police were called to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center two days later after the boy's foster parents noticed a lump on his head that an emergency room doctor said was a skull fracture.

Detectives seized Manges' medical records, and prosecutors charged her last months with assault of a child in the third-degree and reckless endangerment, both felonies. The last charge alleges she was intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled substance when the assault occurred.

A $15,000 warrant was issued for Manges' arrest on Nov. 7. Anyone with information on her location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.