Kidnap charge added for alleged molester

A judge raised the bail amount to $250,000 for a 29-year-old who couch surfed at his friend’s Coeur d’Alene home where he allegedly abused a 7-year-old who lived at the house.

Nathan H. Matzinger appeared Friday in First District Court, where prosecutors asked his bail be substantially increased after an additional charge of first-degree kidnapping was added by a grand jury.

Matzinger’s bail was originally set at $200,000 for one count of lewd conduct with a child, but deputy prosecutor Molly Nivison asked bail to be increased to $600,000 because of the new charge. Nivison cited Matzinger’s lack of ties to the community and the penalties involved — each charge carries a maximum sentence of up to life behind bars — as reasons to increase the bail amount and ensure Matzinger remains in the Kootenai County jail.

Defense attorney Rick Baughman countered that bail is not meant to be punitive, and argued a $25,000 bail increase would suffice.

Matzinger’s charges stem from his contact with a child on the night of June 1 while he slept on the couch of a friend’s house on the 1400 block of Nora Avenue after driving to Coeur d’Alene from Seattle by way of Maryland.

Matzinger allegedly entered the bedroom of the 7-year-old while family members were asleep and forced himself upon the child, preventing her from leaving the room by restraining her and blocking the doorway, according to reports.

The kidnapping charge accuses Matzinger of “willfully and without lawful authority detain a child under the age of 16 … with the intent to keep or conceal her from her custodial parent, or detain her against her will.”

Matzinger, who attended public schools in Coeur d’Alene until dropping out of high school, and who lived in the Lake City until 2013, told police that he was very drunk on the night of the alleged incident and blacked out. His severe intoxication prevents him from remembering the hours leading up to the time the child’s parents confronted him and he “bolted,” according to prosecutors, from the house, leaving behind his belongings.

“He literally ran out of the house,” Nivison said. “He jumped into his car and peeled out.”

Baughman said his client has many friends in the area, a job lined up detailing cars, and an uncle at whose home he could reside.

“All arguments regarding risk of flight are pure speculation,” Baughman said.

Matzinger’s criminal history includes two previous drug arrests. A police report said Matzinger was trying to purchase a firearm a couple of days before his arrest on the lewd conduct charge.

Matzinger’s arraignment is scheduled June 26 in Coeur d’Alene.