Man convicted of sexual abuse
KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 3 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. | July 15, 2021 1:06 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — A man accused of kissing and groping two teen girls near the lake last summer has been convicted of two felony charges.
Michael A. Aquino, 46, of Spokane, Wash., was found guilty this week of two counts of sexual abuse of a child.
A jury also found Aquino guilty of a habitual offender enhancement.
The charges stem from July 2020, when Coeur d’Alene police responded to a report that two teen girls had been harassed near the lake.
The girls, who were 14 years old at the time, told police that they were on a dock when a man approached them.
The man, later identified as Aquino, reportedly told the girls that he had recently moved to Coeur d’Alene and asked about good places to swim.
Aquino reportedly followed the girls as they walked away, calling them “beautiful” and asking to go swimming with them.
One girl testified this week that Aquino hugged her around the waist and placed his hand close to her rear.
“He had a good grip on my side, above my butt,” she said. “I was very uncomfortable.”
Aquino then reportedly grabbed the other girl in a hug and kissed her face, close to her mouth. She said she froze in shock.
After Aquino let go, the girls hurried to get away.
“We didn’t want him to chase after us, so we went slow at first,” one of the girls said in court Monday. “Then we started running.”
They ran to The Coeur d’Alene Resort, where they asked security for help.
After police published images of Aquino taken from security footage in an effort to identify him, he turned himself in.
He later posted $100,000 bail.
After the jury handed down a guilty verdict, Aquino was taken back to jail pending sentencing. Judge Cynthia Meyer said she considers Aquino to be a flight risk.
Aquino was previously convicted of multiple felonies out of Spokane County, including two counts of first-degree robbery in 1995 and unlawful imprisonment in 1999.
In Idaho, sexual abuse of a child is punishable by a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Aquino is scheduled to be sentenced in October before Judge Meyer.
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