Trial is ordered in rape, lewd case

SANDPOINT — An 18-year-old Sandpoint man was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for having sex with an underage girl and posting a video of the incident on social media.

Perry Pershing Howard is scheduled to be arraigned in 1st District Court on charges of rape, lewd conduct and sexual abuse of a minor on Oct. 24. He is free on $15,000 bond while his case is pending.

Howard is accused of taking advantage of an intoxicated 15-year-old at a Sandpoint home on Sept. 8. A video of Howard having sex with the girl was posted to his account on Snapchat, an imaging messaging application, according to court documents.

Mitchell Eugene Wallace, also 18, was implicated in the incident also faces charges of rape and lewd conduct. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Sept. 21, clearing the way for his arraignment on Monday.

Howard invoked his right to remain silent during his preliminary hearing Wednesday.

The alleged victim testified that she had become increasingly ill and was taken to a home of one of Perry’s relatives. She told the court that Howard and Wallace helped her up a flight of steps and into an upstairs bedroom, where she was assaulted by Perry.

“I kept saying, ‘no.’ I kept pushing him away,” said the teen, adding that her motor skills were diminished by the drugs and alcohol.

Howard’s defense counsel, Sandpoint attorney Bryce Powell, attempted to draw out testimony that his client had a prior relationship with the teen, but Deputy Prosecutor Nicholas Lepire objected, arguing it was irrelevant because the teen was too young under Idaho law to consent to sex.

The teen admitted that she had flirted with Howard and was attracted to him, but was not in a relationship with him.

The teen did not report the incident to authorities, but did go to Bonner General Health to be treated for an injury she sustained, which apparently triggered an investigation by Sandpoint Police.

The teen conceded she did not want charges pressed against Howard and only appeared in court after being issued a summons to testify.

The teen said she did not black out or hallucinate while intoxicated, although she said her recollection of specific events faded in and out. Sandpoint Police Det. Aerni said Howard estimated the teen’s level of intoxication at a 8 on a scale of 10. However, Howard told the detective that the sexual contact was consensual and that she seemed fine when they had sex.

Defense witnesses said the teen had clearly been drinking, but that she could hold conversations and did not need any assistance standing or walking.

The resident of the home where the teen was taken testified that she heard people traversing the staircase but heard no signs of a struggle or raised voices, which should have been audible in her uninsulated, century-old home.

Lepire argued the case boiled down to basic math, that the teen was simply too young to give consent.

“We’re not talking about consent. It has no bearing in this case,” said Lepire.

Powell argued the teen made up the allegations to avoid being punished by a juvenile probation officer for breaking curfew.

“That, your honor, is her motive for making this allegation,” said Powell, who added that his client was unfairly being prosecuted for multiple crimes arising from the same encounter.

Judge Lori Meulenberg ultimately bound Howard over to stand trial, finding that it was undisputed that the teen was under the age of 16 and therefore unable to give consent. The court also found that it was more probable than not that the teen was intoxicated based on witness testimony.