Flathead District Judge Robert Allison issued a $75,000 warrant Thursday for the arrest of a rapist on state probation who did not show up in court for a revocation hearing.

Anthony Lee Evans, 31, of Bozeman, was set to enter general admissions or general denials to allegations that he was found in possession of alcohol, a tactical-style knife with a thumb-opening device and pornographic content on his cell phone. Alcohol, weapons and pornography are not allowed to be in a felony sex offender’s possession while on probation.

Evans was paroled after serving 16 years in Montana State Prison for holding a 9-year-old girl at gunpoint, tying her to a tree and raping her behind the Martin City Fire Hall in June 1998. He is currently serving a 24-year suspended portion of the total 40-year sentence that was imposed for the felony.

According to his probation officer’s report, Evans allegedly did not pay $1,400 for sex offender treatment after his release, has not followed through with mental-health counseling and is considered to be out of compliance with his mental-health treatment provider.

“It is this officer’s opinion that the defendant continues to believe he is the victim in his crime, he refuses to abide by his conditions, refuses to pay for his treatment, and therefore continued community placement is far too great of risk,” the probation officer wrote in the report.

Evans posted a $50,000 bond and was released from the Flathead County Detention Center on Sept. 4.

Evans’s attorney Jessica Polan said she did not have information as to why he was not in court on Thursday and asked for a two-week continuance. Prosecutor John Donovan asked that a $100,000 warrant be issued.

Allison split the difference between the two recommendations and revoked Evans’ previously issued bond and issued a new $75,000 warrant.

Polan asked Allison in court if she thought it might be a conflict of interest for him to serve as a judge in the new case because he was the chief public defender when murder charges were dropped against Evans in 2000.

In that case Evans had confessed to killing 6-year-old Megan Lamanna in Hungry Horse in July 1999, but the confession was thrown out after the Montana Supreme Court ruled it was inadmissible because a parent was not present while Evans was being interviewed.

Allison said he did not see any immediate conflict of interest because he did not work on the case himself.

“I was aware of Mr. Evans’s case because I assigned it to (another attorney),” Allison said.

Donovan also informed Allison that the state intends to have the court issue a designation as to whether or not Evans should be listed as a Level I, Level II, or Level III sex offender. The three-tiered system helps inform the court as to how likely an offender is to re-offend, but was not in place when Evans was sentenced decades ago.

A tier designation will determine if Evans can petition the court to be removed from the sex offender registry in 10 years, 25 years, or if it will be mandatory for him to register for life. It will also determine how often Evans has to check in with local law enforcement if he is out of prison.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.