Child sex case rouses protesters

The trial of a Rathdrum 20-year-old accused of paying minors for sex has been postponed until October.

Porter K. Averett was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to three counts of lewd conduct with a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a child. The hearing was postponed to allow the defense more time to prepare.

Averett was charged last October with 18 felonies after several minors told police he had sexual contact with them. Fourteen of the charges, including eight counts of prostitution, four counts of lewd conduct and one count of sexual abuse of a child, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Defense attorney Jed Nixon and deputy prosecutor Casey Simmons in an earlier hearing asked the court to allow more time for sentencing because many people planned to attend the hearing.

First District Judge Cynthia K.C. Meyer set aside two hours to ensure victims could provide statements.

“We would need more time,” Nixon told the court. “There are a lot of witnesses.”

Simmons also asked for at least two hours for the hearing.

“There are a lot of victims,” she said.

Although his client had undergone a psychosexual evaluation, Nixon requested a mental health evaluation and a polygraph.

Averett was arrested last year after Rathdrum police learned about his alleged contact with teenagers from the grandmother of a 15-year-old boy who found lewd images and explicit messages from Averett on her grandson’s cellphone.

An investigation uncovered a series of similar correspondence and sexual encounters between Averett and as many as a dozen minors, girls and boys, ranging from 12 to 15 years old, according to police reports.

Witnesses told police Averett would pick them up in his car and offer them cigarettes, rides and money to have sex. The encounters usually occurred in his vehicle parked near the Rathdrum cemetery, a Baptist Church parking lot and in his garage. Averett used games such as “truth or dare” and offered prizes that always resulted in sex, one of the teenagers told police.

Averett confirmed many of the allegations during an interview with investigators, according to a police report in court records.

The settlement offer between Averett and the state that resulted in the dismissal of 14 charges was filed under seal and is not available to the public.

Although Thursday’s sentencing has been postponed, friends and family members of the victims from as far away as California and Montana gathered in front of the Coeur d’Alene courthouse Thursday to draw attention to the case.

“We’re letting our judicial system know that (Averett) needs to go to prison and the judicial system needs to treat these young victims with more respect,” said Denise Short, one of the organizers.

Lewd conduct with a minor can carry a sentence of up to life behind bars. Bail for Averett, who is in the Kootenai County Jail, was set at $150,000.