In brief: Stolen equipment leads to arrest

A 19-year-old Bonner County man is charged with six felonies for possessing up to $175,000 worth of heavy equipment and utility and camp trailers reported stolen from throughout Kootenai County.

Aaron Sumner, 19, was arrested Saturday after a theft victim posted fliers seeking information on a missing $70,000 mini-excavator. Someone who saw a flier contacted the owner of the tractor with information on its location, according to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies found several stolen utility trailers and a camp trailer parked near Where It’s At Road in Priest River. The mini-excavator was found nearby at 319 Quiet Heights Road.

Deputies found another tractor at a nearby home that had been reported stolen from Post Falls last month.

Kingston, Idaho

School worker faces felony charge

A school district employee from Kingston, Idaho, was arrested Saturday night following an investigation into allegations of rape and lewd conduct with minors under 16.

Thomas R. Gillies, 22, is being held on a felony charge of lewd conduct with a minor, according to the Shoshone County prosecuting attorney’s office. He was involved with the Shoshone Joint School District’s junior high technology program.

Two victims have been identified, according to the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

Gillies appeared in court Monday, the prosecutor’s office said, and he remains at the Shoshone County Jail. Though bail was set, the amount was not available Monday evening.

Additional details were not released. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information on the alleged crimes to call (208) 556-1114.

Vancouver, Wash.

Soldier sentenced to 15 years in rape

An Army recruiter has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, even though he doesn’t remember the trial where he was convicted of raping a 6-year-old girl.

U.S. Army Maj. Osadeba M. Anene, who tried to kill himself by overdosing on pills on the third day of his trial, was comatose and hospitalized as the jury heard the rest of the evidence and convicted him.

The 49-year-old father of five is now blind and confined to a wheelchair. His defense attorney asked the judge not to give Anene an exceptional sentence of 29 years, which prosecutors requested, because the man was a different person than the one tried.

Clark County Superior Judge Roger Bennett agreed Anene shouldn’t receive an exceptional sentence. “The emotional turmoil that Mr. Anene is going through is apparent. I believe he will be handicapped most of his life and will not be a threat,” Bennett said.

Kim Farr, a senior deputy prosecuting attorney, said the victim, now 7, will never recover from the abuse, while Anene’s injuries will heal.

Ex-teacher gets 12 years in prison

A former teacher and ex-police officer has been sentenced to 12 years and three months in prison for second-degree child rape, second-degree molesting and witness tampering.

Daniel R. Sammons, a former language arts teacher and volleyball, basketball and track coach at Gaiser Middle School, received the maximum sentence under state guidelines Friday for sexually abusing a 12-year-old student.

Clark County Superior Court Judge John P. Wulle rejected a defense plea for sentencing under an alternative program that would have cut Sammons’ time behind bars to a few more months followed by three or four years of treatment for sexual deviancy.

“Mr. Sammons, there is nothing more valuable to the citizens of this nation than our children,” Wulle said. “You hurt one of our children. You do not get (the sentencing alternative) from me.”

Bremerton

Woman deposits meth at ATM

A woman told police she mistakenly deposited a bag of methamphetamine into her account at an ATM machine in Bremerton.

She says in charging papers that she accidentally put the drug in the envelope when she reached into her pocket for money.

An employee of the Kitsap Credit Union told police that a bag showed up in a deposit envelope for the woman’s account. It tested positive for meth. She was arrested Thursday and charged Friday with felony drug possession.

From staff and wire reports