Sandpoint man charged with lewd conduct

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man is facing charges for allegedly molesting underage girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gary Dean Blankenship, 49, is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. He is free on $100,000 bail while the case is pending.

A preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to justify trying Blankenship on the offenses is scheduled for May 30 in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

One of the alleged victims, now 30, resolved to come forward to spare other children the abuse she was subjected to, according to unsealed probable cause hearing testimony.

“I’ve been terrified of him for a long time,” the woman testified.

Blankenship molested her from 1988 to 1996, when she was between the ages of 7 and 15 years old, a criminal complaint alleges.

She testified that the abuse began with fondling and later progressed to intercourse.

Blankenship is further accused of molesting the girl’s sister in 1990, when she was 7 years old.

The sisters never disclosed to each other that they were being sexually abused until they reached adulthood, court records indicate.

The older sister testified that one of their husbands confronted Blankenship about the allegations and he reportedly apologized, handed over a .45-caliber firearm and tearfully asked to be shot.

Judge Don Swanstrom found probable cause to charge Blankenship on March 15. The court also entered orders barring Blankenship from being in contact with the women while the case is pending.