SANDPOINT — A registered sex offender who resides in the Sagle area was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony charges of sexual abuse upon multiple minors.  

Donald James LaVare, 55, was sentenced to serve 35 total years after he pleaded guilty to lewd conduct with a child under 16, a felony that carries a life sentence.  

As part of a plea deal, which included the removal of three counts of sexual abuse by soliciting a child, five counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16 and five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, LaVare will be required to serve 25 years in prison before being eligible for parole, with an indeterminate sentence of 10 years. 

Additionally, the one count of lewd conduct will include all four victims named in the case, instead of individual charges for each of the affected individuals. Documents indicate the abuse took place between 2016 and 2025, where the four minors' ages ranged from six to 10 years old. 

Due to the sensitive nature of the case, court documents are sealed.   

To protect the identities of the survivors, who were minors at the time of the abuse, the Daily Bee has omitted victim names, in accordance with its policy of not naming victims of sexual abuse. 

Before his sentencing, LaVare was held at the Bonner County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He currently remains there until he is transported to an Idaho Department of Corrections facility.  

Before his move to Sagle, LaVare was convicted twice of first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree rape of a minor in 1996 while living in New York.   

According to the New York sex offender registry, LaVare has since resided in New York, Indiana and Idaho.    

Anyone who suspects sexual abuse should call the Bonner County Sexual Abuse 24/7 hotline at 208-265-3586.