Ex-school worker sentenced for rape
A former teacher’s aide convicted of raping a teenage girl will spend 20 months in prison unless his appeal is granted, a judge ruled Friday.
Titus V. Epefanio, 31, posted a $25,000 appeals bond after his sentencing and will be free through his appeal hearing, which hasn’t been scheduled.
Epefanio faced up to five years in prison after a jury convicted him of third-degree rape of a child in September, two years after his arrest. The former Salk Middle School employee fathered a child with a then-16-year-old student at Shadle Park High School, whom he met at Salk. He’d been in the Spokane County Jail since his conviction Sept. 23.
The girl’s lawyer contacted police during a child custody dispute and said Epefanio had sex with the girl when she was under 16, the age of consent in Washington.
Epefanio is adamant he did not have sex with her until she turned 16, said his lawyer, Dave Hearrean.
The girl and her family settled a claim with Spokane Public Schools this summer for an undisclosed sum.
Murder suspect faces other charges
David K. Brewczynski, charged with first-degree aggravated murder in the Sept. 20 shooting death of a Spokane Valley man, also faces 23 other charges.
Brewczynski, 42, was charged this week with killing Kenneth Cross, 80, whose home police say Brewczynski was burglarizing.
Brewczynski also faces six counts of burglary, 11 counts of theft, five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of trafficking stolen property.
While investigating the homicide, police found evidence in a storage unit that led to some of the new charges this week, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dave Reagan said.
Brewczynski’s criminal record dates to the 1980s. Detectives connected him to about 40 burglaries in 1997.
In the Cross case, investigators think the elderly man’s housekeeper, Teresa Nelson, may have told Brewczynski about Cross and his home. Police think Cross was killed when he surprised Brewczynski during the burglary.
Detectives continue to investigate Nelson’s connection.
Post Falls
Q’emiln Park launch closing for season
The Q’emiln Park boat launch ramp on the Spokane River in Post Falls will close for the season Wednesday, Avista Corp. said in a news release.
The ramp, just upstream from the Post Falls dam, closes each year in mid-November due to dropping water levels and weather conditions. The ramp will re-open in late spring or early summer, depending on the amount of water flowing into Lake Coeur d’Alene.
By Wednesday, the lake drawdown will result in Spokane River levels above the dam of about 3.5 feet below the summer elevation. The water may drop as much as 3 feet more by the end of January, the release said.