Former Bonner County resident charged with battery

SANDPOINT — A former Bonner County resident who was recently sentenced for a spate of burglaries is in trouble with the law again.

Kai Richard Leach is accused of sexually assaulting a preteen girl while an alleged accomplice armed with a knife sat nearby. Leach is charged with aiding and abetting or conspiring to commit aggravated battery by using a deadly weapon.

Leach, 18, heeded an order to appear in Bonner County Magistrate Court for an initial appearance. He is free on his own recognizance and a preliminary hearing on the felony charge is pending, court records indicate.

The alleged incident occurred on a Schweitzer Mountain Resort shuttle bus on Jan. 21, court records state. The girl told an Idaho State Police investigator that two teens later identified as Leach and Dean David Combs Jr. would not leave her and her friends alone.

Combs, 17, produced a butterfly knife at one point and Leach sat next to the girl and “forced” her to kiss him several times, according to an ISP probable cause statement.

Leach is further accused of fondling the girl through her clothes, the ISP statement said.

The girl reported the incident to officials at her school, who in turn notified authorities.

The allegations surfaced amid a Bonner County sheriff’s investigation of a report that Combs had attempted to strong-arm some younger boys out of their possessions while fanning the butterfly knife at Schweitzer the day after the bus incident.

Combs ultimately told state police investigators that he was kidding around and the boys misinterpreted his actions as a threat, the probable cause statement said.

There is no record in the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository of Combs being charged in connection with either of the two incidents

Combs and Leach were part of a prolific burglary ring that preyed on residents and two Kootenai churches last fall.

Leach was also charged with sexually abusing a minor, although the charge was dismissed following plea negotiations in the burglary case. Leach, who now lives in Woodland, Wash., was sentenced last month to probation.

Combs is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in 1st District Court for his role in the burglary ring.