Man pleads not guilty in church rape case

A church worker pleaded not guilty today to a rape charge in which police allege he tied wire around a woman’s face, fastened her to a metal pipe in the basement of a Spokane church and sexually assaulted her. Michael J. Bosch, 47, appeared before Superior Court Judge Neal Rielly, who accepted the not guilty plea and set a trial date of April 19. According to court records, Bosch met the woman Feb. 6 on East Sprague before going to Mending Fences Ministry, 1906 E. Sprague Ave., where Bosch worked and had a key. Bosch smoked crack cocaine, according to court records, before tying a wire around the woman’s face and mouth. He placed a plastic bag over her head and tied her to a pipe prior to the sexual assault, according to those records. The woman escaped by smashing a window and running to a nearby motor home, where she called police.