Teen accused of fondling sleeping woman in North Spokane may be tried as adult

A judge will decide next week whether a 16-year-old boy will be tried as an adult for allegedly breaking into an apartment and fondling a woman as she slept.

Police were called to an apartment complex at 6901 N. Wiscomb just before 5 a.m. on Jan. 30 after a woman reported that she woke to someone touching her. She told police she assumed it was her boyfriend until she caught a glimpse of the person standing next to her bed, according to court documents.

The woman said the person stood briefly in the light cast by a night light before running from the room with her boyfriend in pursuit. Police searched the area and found the 16-year-old, who fit the woman’s description, hiding in a laundry room at the complex.

Officers wrote in court documents that they found evidence that someone crawled through a window to get into the apartment. The woman’s boyfriend found a pair of boots he didn’t recognize next to their sliding glass door.

The teen was barefoot when he was found and police also found a pack of cigarettes with him that the woman told police had been on a table next her bed, according to court documents. The teen apparently lives in the same complex.

The teen, who has been charged with burglary and indecent liberties, was initially released to the custody of his parents, but he didn’t show up for a court appearance and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He is currently in the juvenile jail.