Parolee Accused Of Raping Minor

A Coeur d’Alene man on parole for an aggravated drunken driving conviction was arraigned Monday on charges that he repeatedly raped the 15-year-old daughter of friends he had been staying with.

Robert A. Thomas, 32, also faces charges of lewd conduct with a minor for allegedly fondling the girl’s 14-year-old friend and violating the conditions of his parole.

First District Judge Gary Haman ordered Thomas to remain in the Kootenai County Jail on $100,000 bail. If convicted of rape and lewd conduct, Thomas faces life in prison and a $50,000 fine for each charge. Trial has been set for Dec. 16.

Thomas, who was released from prison April 15, was on parole about two weeks when he began having sex with the 15-year-old girl at her family’s Post Falls home, according to Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department reports.

The girl told detectives Thomas had sex with her about a dozen times during the five weeks he lived with her family, forcing her to perform oral sex on one occasion. According to Sheriff’s Department reports, the 14-year-old girl witnessed the two having sex once.

Haman sentenced Thomas to five years in prison last year, requiring that he serve at least one year for his conviction on two counts of aggravated drunken driving.

A jury convicted Thomas of causing an accident that left a 35-year-old woman in a wheelchair and her brother disfigured.

Thomas was released from prison after serving only a year.

, DataTimes