All of the men arrested in a sex sting in the Kalispell area have officially been charged and the Flathead County Attorney’s Office tells us they will get their day in court.
Felony sex abuse charges have been filed against the suspects, and we spoke with Deputy Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner who tells us that this case will be prosecuted like any other – but it is clear that this one is a little different.
http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html
The biggest difference to Ahner is that the Felony Sex Abuse of a Minor charge carries with it some very lengthy mandatory sentencing if any of the men are found guilty.
“At present some of these individuals – the way they’re charged – have a 25 year mandatory minimum…prison sentence, that doesn’t allow for probation. For that first 25 years, with a maximum of 100 years.”
One of the men accused, Christopher Adams, had also been a youth volunteer at the Church of the Nazarene in Kalispell.
Charging documents were filed late Friday and early Monday for Adams, Justin Zeiss and Benjamin Emrich. Daniel Anthony Hall, Joshua Naethe and Karl Wortley were all officially charged by Friday.
Ahner tells us these men will get fair treatment, but there is strong evidence in this case.
“We deal with all sorts of significant crimes. This one it’s going to be a little more publicized, In part because, there are eventually -in some of these cases – we have hands on footage of them, sort of approaching a scene, doing something that a lot of times, don’t have.”
“In a lot of our criminal cases, So it’s going to be a little bit different in that regard. But otherwise, no, for us it’s just any other case, got to proceed through it go through all the steps,” Ahner said.
The first of the six men will be arraigned on Thursday as Karl Wortley will enter either a guilty or not guilty plea. All six of the men are being held in the Flathead County jail on a $100,000 bail.
