68-year-old Jerome man charged with molesting girl in Idaho Falls - East Idaho News
Idaho Falls

68-year-old Jerome man charged with molesting girl in Idaho Falls

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JEROME — A 68-year-old Jerome man who turned himself in after being listed as Jerome County’s most wanted in April has been charged with molesting an 11-year-old girl.

Loyd Ray Wehrli was arraigned Monday in Jerome County Magistrate Court on two felony counts of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 years of age. He is out of custody after posting $5,000 bond April 5.

A warrant was issued for Wehrli’s arrest in March and the Jerome County Sheriff’s Office listed Wehrli on April 4 as the county’s most-wanted person, with his picture, name and charges in the Times-News. Wehrli turned himself in that same morning.

Prosecutors say Wehrli molested an 11-year-old girl at least twice — once in December at his home in Jerome and once in November at his workplace in Idaho Falls.

During a December interview with Children at Risk Evaluation Services, the girl told doctors Wehrli had touched her and kissed her several times over the past 5 ½ years. She also said Wehrli “threatened that if she ever told anyone, that she would get in trouble, no one would believe her and everyone would make fun of her.”

The girl also told doctors about at least two times Wehrli molested her or tried to molest her while at his work in Idaho Falls, once when she was 5 and once in November, court documents said. She reported that when she was 5, Wehrli tried touching her inappropriately and “she ran away and hid in a bathroom until he left her alone.”

The girl’s description of the first time Wehrli molested her matched Wehrli’s own description of the event that he gave police during a December interview, court documents said. Another girl who witnessed the incident in December also told a story that matched the one the victim told doctors.

In an interview with police last year, Wehrli said he touched the girl about six or seven times within the last three to five years. He also told police he interpreted the girl’s behavior to be “aggressively seeking to develop a relationship with him,” that she “initiated the lewd contact between them each time” and that he “felt it was something (the girl) desired.”

Wehril waived his preliminary hearing and will be arranged in district court on May 16.

This article was originally published in the Times-News. It is used here with permission.

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