Idaho teens charged with rape as adults

Two Coeur d’Alene boys were arrested Thursday and charged as adults in the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl, according to a Coeur d’Alene Police Department news release.

Alexander Thomas Donnolo, 16, and Chad Vincent Gardner, 15, made their first appearances Friday in Kootenai County 1st District Court via videoconference. Judge Scott Wayman set bail at $25,000 apiece. Rape is punishable by not less than one year and up to life in prison, the release said.

“Due to the seriousness of the crime, the decision was made to charge them as adults,” said police Sgt. Christie Wood.

The Police Department reported Friday that it had received a report of a rape that allegedly occurred about 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the 1400 block of East Peggy Loop. The girl claimed she had been raped by two males at a private residence while visiting a female friend. She said she was raped by her friend’s brother and a friend of his, the release said.

No adults were home when the rape allegedly occurred.

Newspaper archives list Donnolo and Gardner on Coeur d’Alene High School’s honor roll during their freshman year, last year. District Superintendent Hazel Bauman said the Police Department informed her of the news and told her that the alleged victim was not a Coeur d’Alene High School student.

“It’s one of those things where your stomach turns over, as a community,” Bauman said. Though the boys are innocent until proven guilty, she said, the incident makes her wonder: “Where have we gone wrong? Where have we not passed on our sense of right and wrong to our children? I feel very empty right now.”