Kootenai man facing lewd conduct charges

SANDPOINT — A Kootenai man wanted on lewd conduct charges in Bonner County was arrested in California last month.

Andreas Ludolf Breymann made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Wednesday via video feed from the Bonner County Jail. Judge Debra Heise sustained Breymann’s $50,000 and appointed a public defender to represent him.

Breymann, 59, engaged lewd conduct with a boy in Bonner County in 2009, when the boy was 13-14 years old, a criminal complaint alleges. The conducted included fondling, oral sex and sodomy, resulting in three counts of lewd conduct.

The alleged victim, now 21, disclosed the alleged abuse to sheriff’s investigators in January. The alleged victim told investigators that some of the abuse was documented with a video recording that was later destroyed, a probable cause affidavit said.

Breymann had disputed the allegations, which he wrote off as “dreams” induced by the alleged victim’s drug use, according to court documents.

The alleged victim said he confronted Breymann about the abuse in November 2016 and Breymann allegedly responded by saying that he never meant harm him, which the victim took as an admission to the sexual abuse, the affidavit said.

Breymann allegedly admitted the abuse again in a recorded telephone conversation in January, a tactic known as a confrontation call. It’s lawful in Idaho to record a phone conversation without informing the person on the other end of the line that the recording is being made. The audio recording was collected as evidence in the case, according to court documents.

Breymann invoked his right to remain silent when sheriff’s detectives sought to interview him about the sexual abuse allegations, court records indicate.

A $50,000 nationwide warrant was issued for Breymann’s arrest in February. It was served by Stanislaus County sheriff’s officials in Modesto, Calif., on March 7.

A preliminary hearing in the case is pending.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.