Event to help girls, lobby for change

Shasta Groene and a 12-year-old girl allegedly assaulted by her father as well as other potential child sex abuse victims could benefit from a daylong event slated for Saturday at the Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park.

The event, called Protect the Innocence, is both a fund-raiser for two of Kootenai County’s high profile sex-abuse victims and also a lobbying effort designed to strengthen state laws to protect children.

It was originally inspired by Shasta Groene – who lived through a triple homicide at her home and was abducted with her brother, taken to Montana and sexually molested.

But event organizers also have decided to raise funds for the 12-year-old Athol, Idaho, girl as well.

Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds has been trying to raise money for a trust fund for the 12-year-old girl, but as of Thursday, had raised only $525.

“They have no money in the family,” Reynalds said. “Their father is going away for life. They’ve got absolutely nothing.”

John R. Tuggle, 37, of Hayden, Colo., is currently in the Shoshone County Jail on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, rape and lewd and lascivious conduct. He’s accused of taking his 12-year-old daughter from her home to the Lost Creek area of Shoshone County where he allegedly raped her, stabbed her multiple times and left her for dead.

Both Shasta and the 12-year-old girl are expected to need years of counseling to help them cope with the traumas they endured – the kind of help that many families can’t afford.

Money will be raised at the gate – entry is $10 a car – and through a silent auction, raffle, food and other vendors, and direct donation to the girls’ trust funds.

Organizers, the Coeur d’Alene Men in Business organization and the Windermere Foundation, even got National Beverage Corp. to donate 20 pallets, or 13,888 cans of Shasta soda and water, to the event.

“We’re going to sell those for 25 cents each,” said Midge Smock, with the Windermere Foundation, which set up a trust fund for Shasta and is helping Reynalds do the same for the 12-year-old girl.

Shasta’s trust fund is intended for medical and educational costs and is managed by the Windermere Foundation, a nonprofit organization that normally supports homeless and low-income families.

The stabbing victim’s trust fund will be similarly set up and managed by a citizens committee, Reynalds said.

While the gate proceeds will be shared by the two trust funds, most of the proceeds at the event will still benefit Shasta, but several sites at the event will provide opportunities to donate to the 12-year-old, Smock said.

In addition to fund-raising activities, the event will feature live music, carnival activities, face-painting and other activities for kids.

For adults, organizers also are planning speakers and information on child safety and sex offender legislation.

“No child should ever experience anything close to what Shasta has been forced to endure,” said Matt Lambert, a local Windermere Real Estate agent and member of the Men in Business Group.

While the group’s first goal is to help Shasta, he said, secondly it’s to “ensure that this never happens to another child – in Coeur d’Alene or anywhere else.”