Man arrested after he calls 911 saying he had sex with 13-year-old
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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man has been arrested and is facing several charges after he called 911 saying he had sex with a 13-year-old.
Leroy Milton Cotterell Jr., 45, is charged with two counts of lewd conduct and one count of sexual abuse of a child.
On Friday, police responded to Cotterell’s residence after he called Bonneville County Dispatch saying he had sex with a 13-year-old relative. When police arrived, he told them he needed to talk to them and turn himself in for the alleged sex abuse, according to court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com.
Cotterell told detectives he had gone out to his shed with the victim, where they kissed. He said he removed the victim’s clothes and engaged in sexual intercourse. He also told police he had touched the victim inappropriately before.
According to court documents, police got a phone call Thursday from the victim’s mother saying she had heard rumors Cotterell had sexually assaulted the victim at his home.
The mother told detectives she asked her daughter if the rumors are true, and the girl said Cotterell had abused her twice in the last several weeks.
“Leroy asked if she wanted to have sex with him, and she said no,” according to court documents.
The victim then said she was led out to his shed in the backyard, where he undressed her and had sex with her.
“She told Leroy to stop, but he didn’t until she said she would tell police,” according to court documents.
She also told police that a few days after that incident, Cotterell took her back to the shed again and had sex with her.
Cotterell admitted to police the victim told him to stop multiple times.
He also says he thinks the neighbor was flying a drone and might have gotten a video of the incident. He also told police he blames his drug addiction for what he says he did. It is unknown if there is drone footage of the incident or if the suspicion of drone footage prompted Cotterell to call 911.
Cotterell was arrested Friday and booked into the Bonneville County Jail. He is being held on a $75,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 7 before Judge L. Mark Riddoch.