Rape trial is ordered

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man accused of raping a 16-year-old Bonner County girl was ordered to stand trial on Wednesday.

Judge Justin Julian found during a preliminary hearing that there was sufficient evidence to justify trying Dean Duane Stevens Jr. on the rape charge, plus additional charges of first-degree kidnapping and delivery of methamphetamine.

Stevens is scheduled to be arraigned on the three felonies in 1st District Court on Oct. 5. He remains in custody at the county jail with bail set at $500,000.

Stevens is accused of supplying the teen with meth, tying her up at a remote cabin in Samuels and raping her on July 3.

Stevens invoked his right to remain silent and did not testify during the preliminary hearing. However, Chief Public Defender Isabella Robertson said Stevens disputes the charges.

“My client is maintaining his innocence,” Robertson said.

Four people testified on Wednesday, including the alleged victim, a registered nurse who performed the rape exam, a sheriff’s detective who collected evidence at the crime scene and mutual acquaintance of the teen and Stevens.

The bulk of the testimony came from the victim, who recounted meeting Stevens at City Beach a day before the incident. Stevens allegedly brought up the subject of posing for nude photos in exchange for money.

The girl told the court that she reluctantly agreed, but believed the mutual acquaintance would be involved also. She testified that Stevens picked her up near her house the next day and drove her to an uninhabited cabin on Marijuana Knob.

She testified that she felt uneasy once they arrived and that Stevens produced the drugs and urged her to use them with him. After smoking the stimulant together, she said she disrobed and posed for photos on the hood of the car. Afterwards, she said she followed Stevens into the cabin, where he bound her hands and feet with zip ties and rope.

“I was trying to get away and he…started sexually assaulting me,” the teen said.

The teen said Stevens threatened her with a handgun and unbound her. She testified that she convinced Stevens to take her home.

Detective Gary Johnston testified that he recovered zip ties from the cabin which appeared to be similar to ones found in Stevens’ home. Johnston further testified that Stevens’ fingerprint was found on a piece of duct tape in the cabin.

DNA evidence was also recovered during the investigation, although Johnston told the court that the results are still pending. Nurse Sharon Bistodeau said the teen had injuries consistent with sexual trauma and both the suspect and the victim tested positive for meth use.

Prosecutor Louis Marshall argued there was sufficient evidence for the drug charge and noted that there was certainly one instance of kidnapping when she was bound and possibly another when he enticed her into his vehicle.

“There’s a kidnapping in that process of leading her away,” he said.

Robertson argued there was nothing linking Stevens to the recovered drug paraphernalia and said there was an insufficient showing that a kidnapping was committed.

“We have a pick-up that was voluntarily and a take-home that was voluntary,” she said.

Julian disagreed with the state’s enticement argument, but agreed that the teen’s confinement in the cabin qualified as a kidnapping. He also ruled that there was probable cause that Stevens gave her drugs and raped her.