Aunt accused of leaving kids with sex offender
A Spokane County woman faces a possible jail sentence for allegedly leaving her teenage niece and nephew in the care of a registered sex offender.
Under a seldom-used law enacted in 2002, it is a misdemeanor to leave children in the care of sex offenders. It makes no difference what level the sex offender is.
Candy Sue Grauberger, 33, could be jailed for up to three months and fined a maximum of $1,000 if convicted in District Court.
“We don’t see a lot of these,” Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Sams said. “It’s not something that comes across our desk very often.”
The charge, filed last September, hasn’t left Sams’ desk because of Grauberger’s failure to appear in court on four occasions.
After her fourth failure to appear June 5, Grauberger was arrested June 16 on a bench warrant.
She posted bail three days later and is again free pending a trial-readiness conference on Monday.
Court documents say Grauberger left her 13-year-old niece and her 14-year-old nephew with her 23-year-old boyfriend, Brian Joseph Bouvier, last year despite having been warned that Bouvier was a convicted sex offender.
There is no allegation that Bouvier did anything improper with the children.
According to a court affidavit by state Child Protective Services caseworker Rory Axtel, the children had been legally placed in Grauberger’s Colbert-area home when Axtel discovered last June that Bouvier also was living there.
Axtel said he told Grauberger and Bouvier that Bouvier had to move out because he was a registered sex offender and couldn’t have contact with the children. Less than a month later, Axtel said, he made a surprise visit and found Bouvier alone with the girl.
According to Axtel, the girl said her brother also had been left alone with Bouvier, who still stayed in the home regularly.
Other court documents show Bouvier was convicted of two counts of first-degree child rape in 1996 when he was 13. His victims were two girls, ages 8 and 10.
Bouvier was sentenced to 42 to 56 weeks in a state juvenile rehabilitation center and was released from supervision in 1999.