Trooper denies fondling women

SEATTLE – A State Patrol trooper accused of molesting women during pat-down searches pleaded not guilty Tuesday in King County Superior Court, and his bail was set at $750,000.

According to charging papers, Michael Idland fondled seven women after stopping them on suspicion of drunken driving in the Bellevue area.

But three more women have come forward in the past week to accuse Idland of molesting them, and prosecutors are asking the State Patrol to review all of his traffic stops.

The seven women Idland is charged with groping were pulled over for various reasons, including driving too slowly or swerving within a lane. In most cases they were given repeated body searches, charging papers said. It was during those searches that Idland is accused of fondling the women and, in two cases, penetrating them with his fingers.

The women are all blond and in their 20s, deputy prosecutor Scott O’Toole said Tuesday.

Prosecutors alleged that in January, Idland suggested to a woman he pulled over for investigation of drunken driving that she would get a lighter sentence if she had sex with him. He patted her down and digitally penetrated her, court papers said.

According to charging papers, Idland called the area where the traffic stops occurred between 2002 and early this year as his “hunting ground.”

Idland, 40, has been on administrative leave since January. He is charged with one count of first-degree extortion and two counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct, all felonies.

Idland, who worked out of the patrol’s Bellevue office, is also charged with five counts of second-degree sexual misconduct, a gross misdemeanor.

If convicted on all counts, he could face a maximum 10 years in prison, with a standard sentencing range of 13 to 17 months.

Idland’s bail was reduced Tuesday from $2 million to $750,000. His wife, Kim Idland, said his mental health had been improving with the help of a counselor.

“I’ve seen an improvement in his spirit and his coping mechanisms,” she told the judge.

Idland’s attorney, David Allen, had argued for $10,000 bail, saying the $2 million and $750,000 figures were unreasonable.

“Officers don’t make that much money,” Allen said.

But O’Toole argued that Idland knows where his alleged victims live, giving authorities good reason to try to keep him locked up.

Idland joined the patrol as a cadet in 1999 and worked the north Seattle area before moving two years ago to the Bellevue office.