Man charged with girl’s assault
A man was arrested Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene and charged with felony sexual battery of a minor after a 16-year-old girl said he inappropriately touched her after they met on the street.
The girl was near 15th Street and Mullan Avenue on Monday when Robert Martin Packard, 35, allegedly approached her and persuaded her to come to his apartment for beer, according to a Coeur d’Alene Police Department news release.
The girl said Packard touched her inappropriately at the apartment and tried to stop her from leaving.
Packard remained in custody Thursday afternoon.
Fund created for boy’s family
Staff members at North Idaho College have set up a fund for the family of a 2-year-old who drowned last weekend during a trip to Oregon.
Jolie Wenglikowski, the director of NIC’s Children Center, where Logan Taylor was enrolled, wants money to be one less thing the family has to worry about. She set up a benevolent fund at Bank of America. People can contribute at any of the bank’s branches. Donations can also be made at the children’s center on NIC’s main Coeur d’Alene campus.
Logan’s father, Steve Taylor, is a production supervisor at the college’s food services department. The family was visiting a relative in Portland and was at a park when Logan got separated from the family. He was found in a creek.
The toddler enjoyed being outside, had the “hugest smile” and was very kind, Wenglikowski said. “He was just a happy spirit.”
Post falls
Orientation set for Riverbend
Orientation is coming up for professional-technical classes at the Riverbend Academy.
High school juniors and seniors who want to apply – and those who have already applied – must attend the session to be able to take the yearlong classes in computer networking, health professions, welding and computer-aided design.
Students must be from the Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland districts. Prerequisites and requirements vary by course.
The orientation is from 5:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Thursday at the North Idaho College Workforce Training Center, 525 West Clearwater Loop Road in Post Falls.
For more information, call (208) 769-5960.
Spokane
Man denies abusing children
A Gulf War veteran who was arrested in February by the FBI in the kingdom of Tonga appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual abuse of children.
David Frederick Achtemeier, 39, pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno, who set a trial date for July 24.
Achtemeier faces two counts of first-degree rape of a child and two counts of first-degree child molestation, according to court records. The alleged victims are the daughters of Achtemeier’s former girlfriend.
He also apparently has charges pending in Stevens County, his defense attorney, Diane Grecco, said in court.
Achtemeier, who was wounded as a medic in the Persian Gulf in 1991, fled Spokane in 2004 after charges were filed.
The FBI obtained a warrant charging Achtemeier with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on July 6, 2005. He was eventually located in Tonga, which is on a series of islands in the South Pacific between Hawaii and New Zealand.
Compiled from
staff reports