Tampering Charged In Sex Case

Bonner County Prosecutor Tevis Hull accused defense lawyers Thursday of tampering with a witness in a sexual battery case.

During a court hearing, Hull said a 17-year-old boy was refusing to testify about having sex with Carolyn Black, an ex-staffer at the Bonner County juvenile detention home.

Black, 39, whose husband is a DARE officer for Bonner County, was charged last month with two counts of sexual battery of a minor.

Authorities said she twice had sex with the teen, who was a former inmate at the detention facility. The teen told authorities he seduced Black and had sex once in her home and another time along the banks of the Pack River.

Hull claimed defense attorneys told the teen he could face charges if he testified about his encounters with Black.

“The defense has attempted to influence testimony,” Hull told Magistrate Quentin Harden. “I have a tremendous problem with those type of ethics.”

Defense attorney Vicki Cabe denied the accusation. The teenage boy then spoke up from the gallery of the courtroom and asked the judge to appoint him an attorney.

The judge asked Hull if he planned to file any charges against the youth. Hull said he did not and the judge denied the teen’s request for a court-appointed lawyer.

, DataTimes