Man arrested for contacting teen
KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 8 months AGO
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | January 20, 2021 1:00 AM
POST FALLS — A man who pleaded guilty last month to felony injury to a child was arrested after police found him in a car last week with a teen he’d been ordered to avoid.
Athol resident Thomas H. Desonia, 19, is charged with violating a no-contact order, a misdemeanor.
In November, police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a residential area of Rathdrum. The driver, identified as Desonia, told police he had just visited a 17-year-old girl.
Police contacted the girl’s mother, who confirmed the girl was 15 years old.
The teen told police she met up with Desonia earlier and spent time with him in a van. She said Desonia touched her private area, under her clothes, according to court documents.
Police arrested Desonia and charged him with lewd conduct with a child under 16, a felony. Judge Timothy Van Valin ordered that he be held on $100,000 bail.
As part of a pretrial settlement offer, Desonia pleaded guilty in December to felony injury to a child.
His bail was lowered to $20,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Police responded around 5 a.m. Thursday to a report of a vehicle stuck in the mud near the Greensferry Bay Boat Launch in Post Falls.
Desonia was identified as the driver. Two passengers were in the vehicle, according to court documents: Desonia’s 16-year-old brother and the 15-year-old girl Desonia had touched inappropriately in November.
The girl told police she and Desonia’s brother went to a party before they picked up Desonia. Police arrested Desonia at the scene.
A search of the vehicle allegedly yielded hallucinogenic mushrooms, which police said belonged to the 16-year-old boy, as well as an unloaded handgun, which the teen girl reportedly said was hers.
Police also arrested the 16-year-old boy and charged him with possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, both misdemeanors.
The teen is on felony probation for armed robbery, according to court documents.
Desonia pleaded not guilty Friday to violating a no contact order.
Judge John Cafferty ordered that Desonia be held on $25,000 bail.
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