Bail $200,000 on molestation charges

A Coeur d’Alene judge set bail at $200,000 for a 53-year-old Hayden man accused of molesting a 9-year-old earlier this year.

Prosecutors said they wanted a high bail amount because Mark E. Peterson may have a history of undocumented child abuse that has been covered up by his church and because the felony charge — lewd conduct with a child — can mean a sentence of life in prison.

First District Magistrate James Stow ordered Peterson not to have contact with children and to immediately leave two Coeur d’Alene churches, Altar Church and Gospel Church, where he has attended for several years.

Stow said that he and no one else could rescind the no-contact order and that if Peterson does post bail the judge must first sign the order before Peterson can be released from jail.

Defense attorneys said Peterson was a lifelong North Idaho resident who lives on Social Security disability. They assured the court he would appear at his hearings if the bail amount was affordable.

Peterson is accused of abusing at least one child who told police he touched her inappropriately. According to court documents, a babysitter contacted police after one of the children in her care said Peterson had touched her private area while she was sitting on his lap.

In an interview with police, Peterson said the contact was likely accidental and that he followed a safety plan because he “cannot be alone with children,” Post Falls Police Detective Neil Uhrig wrote in his report.

Peterson said he was often around children and that his pastor, who also acted as his counselor, told him his sexual attraction to children, “probably started when he was a teenager and it will always be with him,” according to Uhrig’s report. “Mark said he thinks it is Satan attacking him.”

Uhrig cautioned church adminstrators not to conduct their own investigation. He said it was their duty to report potentiual child abuse and chastised them for attempting to handle the matter without the assistance of law enforcement.

Stow set an Aug. 2 preliminary hearing in which the judge will determine if there is enough probable cause to charge the felony and send the case to District Court for further hearings.