By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Since being convicted of rape five years ago, Taylor S. Hoy has been unable or unwilling to accept this fact: Legally, he’s a sex offender.

That’s going to cost him prison time, even when the rape did not.

The 27-year-old who was convicted of statutory rape and placed on probation was sent to prison this week for continually failing to register as a sex offender, a state and federal requirement for anyone convicted of a sex crime.

Since his 2014 conviction by a jury, Hoy has spent a smattering of months in jail for not registering on time. Police have often looked the other way as days and sometimes weeks passed before Hoy grudgingly submitted to an annual registration, or updated his address for authorities, court records show.

In Idaho, convicted sex offenders must appear in person at the sheriff’s office to renew their registration. They must update records after every change of address, name change, or change in their employment, and they are given two to seven days to complete the process.

But earlier this year, after Hoy again failed to register on time, law enforcement arrested the Coeur d’Alene man and charged him with a new crime. Failing to register is itself a felony.

First District Judge Richard Christensen this week sentenced Hoy to four years on the new charge, with a fixed two-year prison term. The judge retained jurisdiction and ordered Hoy be sent on a prison rider program where he will undergo counseling and rehabilitation.

It will be Hoy’s first visit to the penitentiary.

If he fails the prison program, Hoy could serve out the four-year sentence on the latest charge.

WHAT HAPPENED

Hoy was arrested in 2013 for rape after he admitted to having sex with a Rathdrum teenager he’d met online. Both the 15-year-old and Hoy said their encounter was consensual, but under Idaho law, anyone under 16 cannot consent to have sex.

Hoy picked up the alleged victim at the Rathdrum McDonald’s and they drove in Hoy’s rusty, older model Mazda pickup to several parks in Post Falls where Hoy grew up. They spent the afternoon along the river before having sex, and met the following day and had sex again. Hoy was forthcoming with police, admitting to investigators that he and the girl were engaged in a sexual relationship, and the teenager’s story mirrored Hoy’s version of events, according to police reports.

At Hoy’s trial, defense attorney Linda Payne assured the court her client was not a pedophile, and deputy prosecutor David Robins said that although Hoy was convicted of rape, the issue was statutory.

“This was not alleged as a forced rape; she never said she was forced,” Robins said. “This was not an act of violence, but a child cannot consent to have sex. It is against the law.”

Hoy’s sentence was suspended and he went back to work at a Walmart, where he had worked for three years before the incident, then a Post Falls restaurant. He quit jobs and changed addresses but failed to notify authorities. Less than a year after the rape conviction, he was arrested for failing to comply with sex offender registration.

Payne told the court this week that her client may have a mental health issue.

“He has it in his head he won’t register,” Payne said. “He may have developmental disabilities to where he doesn’t make appropriate decisions.”

Christensen, who ordered Hoy serve jail time for one of his earlier probation violations — Hoy was released from jail early for good behavior — said Monday that Hoy’s case was at an impasse.

“Your case is extremely frustrating,” Christensen said. “It seems that you refuse to comply.”

The court has over the years given Hoy many opportunities, the judge said.

“You have been convicted, whether you agree or not,” the judge said. “It came with the duty to register as a sex offender. The court can’t change that.”