Man Given Probation In Rape Case 20-Year-Old Admits Having Sex With 14-Year-Old Girl After Her Father Gave Permission

A 20-year-old man who admitted he carried on a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl - with her father’s approval - was sentenced Monday to probation.

First District Judge Craig Kosonen granted Shaun E. Altman of Athol, Idaho, a withheld judgment, meaning if Altman successfully completes two years of probation, he will stay out of jail. Altman, who was arrested twice in six months on rape charges stemming from his relationship with the girl, has spent 83 days in the Kootenai County Jail.

“I didn’t mean to cause any harm,” Altman said.

Prosecutors dropped the second rape charge against Altman in exchange for his guilty plea.

The girl’s father faces sentencing Wednesday on a charge of being an accessory to a felony. Like Altman, he was arrested in November and again in May.

His name is being withheld because of a newspaper policy not to identify rape victims. The father and daughter share the same last name.

The girl’s mother tipped Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies to the relationship last November.

After his arrest in November, the girl’s father reportedly confirmed to Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies that he had given Altman, 19 at the time, permission to carry on a sexual relationship with his daughter.

Consent is not a defense to a rape allegation in Idaho if the victim is under age 18. Also, a parent cannot legally give consent.

Both men were arrested again in May when sheriff’s deputies learned Altman had moved back in with the girl and her father and had resumed the relationship.

A judge had ordered Altman to have no contact with the girl as a condition of his release following his arrest in November.