Man charged in enticement case

SANDPOINT — Probable cause was found in which a Coeur d’ Alene man was charged with enticement of a minor in First District Court.

Gary Daniel Kobelt Jr., 28, will proceed through the court system after a probable cause order was signed by Magistrate Judge Lori Meulenberg on Oct. 21.

According to court documents, Kobelt created an email account in September under the alias "Archer Reed" to secretly communicate with the teen victim.

The victim, who got a phone earlier that month, communicated with Kobelt through text and email on her school-issued Chromebook.

According to court documents, conversations between Kobelt and the victim became sexual in nature due to Kobelt's steering the conversation. In a forensic interview on Sept. 29, the victim said she went along with the conversations because she didn't know how to make them stop. The victim clarified later in the interview that she did not have a desire to be intimate with Kobelt.

Bonner County Sheriff's Office detectives were made aware of the situation the day before when the victim's parents came forward with "disturbing" text messages they found on the victim's cell phone, according to court records.

According to court records, the mother of the teen called Kobelt the next day to question him about the situation. Kobelt allegedly expressed regret, stating that he knew his actions were wrong. Kobelt denied being in love with the victim at first, but upon further questions by the mother of the victim, he later said that he didn't know if he was in love with the victim. After even more questioning by the mother, Kobelt said that he was in love with the victim.

"I don’t know what to tell you," Kobelt allegedly told the victim’s mother according to court records. "I got caught up in something I shouldn’t have, and I knew better.”

During that conversation, Kobelt said that he was not intending to be physically intimate with the victim, saying that the circumstance was an "emotional affair."

According to an affidavit by Bonner County Detective Barry D. Reinink II, "[The victim] does initiate many questions that elicit an inappropriate and criminal response from Kobelt."

When the mother of the alleged victim told Kobelt that he was "emotionally messing with [her]" Kobelt responded with "I know," according to court documents.

A warrant for Kobelt's arrest was issued on Oct. 21. He was detained in Kootenai County the next day when he was leaving his residence, but bailed out on the $40,000 bond just hours later.

Kobelt is scheduled for an initial appearance in First District Magistrate Court on Nov. 12 in front of Judge Tara Harden.

He has two previous cases in the Idaho court database out of Kootenai and Ada counties for speeding.