Details emerge in rape case

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint teen accused of raping and sodomizing a 14-year-old girl was ordered held Friday in lieu of $100,000 bail.

John Tyler Shalbreck, 17, is being prosecuted as an adult due to the nature of the offense and the age of the alleged victim, court records indicate.

Shalbreck made an initial appearance Friday in Bonner County Magistrate Court, where Judge Debra Heise sustained his bail and appointed a public defender to represent him, according to court documents.

A preliminary hearing to determine if a district court trial is warranted is set for Sept. 18.

Shalbreck is being transferred from the county’s juvenile lockup to the Bonner County Jail, where he will be segregated from other inmates.

The alleged attack occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Thursday in a wooded area at Travers Park.

A sheriff deputy’s probable cause affidavit states that Shalbreck went to the park with the alleged victim and another girl. Shalbreck reportedly became belligerent and threatened to slap the other girl if she did not leave.

The other girl complied out of fear and Shalbreck proceeded to rape the 14-year-old, despite resisting and repeatedly telling him “no,” the affidavit said. Shalbreck reportedly threatened to smack the girl if she did not keep quiet.

“The victim was screaming and the suspect put on of his hands over her mouth and she bit him,” the affidavit alleges.

The bite caused Shalbreck to let go and enabled the girl to break away from him, the affidavit said.

Heise entered an order forbidding Shalbreck from contacting the alleged victim, court records show.

If convicted of rape, Shalbreck faces anywhere from a year in prison to life.

The state’s Juvenile Corrections Act holds that a juvenile between the ages of 14-18 who commits certain crimes against any a juvenile who is 14 years old or younger can be tried as an adult. Those crimes include murder, rape and robbery.