Man placed on probation after assaulting woman - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man placed on probation after assaulting woman

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POCATELLO — A Pocatello man will spend a year on probation for attacking a woman he says he was just trying to cuddle with.

On Tuesday, Paul Flatland, 29, walked into a Bannock County Courthouse to receive a sentence from Magistrate Judge Thomas Clark. The judge gave him 180 days in jail but suspended the majority of the sentence. Flatland was given 15 days of discretionary jail time left up to probation officers. He was also given credit for two days he had spent in jail after his arrest.

Flatland pleaded guilty month to misdemeanor battery.

Pocatello police arrested Flatland on Dec. 20, 2019, after a woman told investigators Flatland sexually assaulted her the day before. In a probable cause affidavit obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, the victim said she and Flatland were involved in a physical disturbance. She said he held her down, tried removing her clothes and sexually assaulted her while she tried to fight back. Flatland had fled the home by the time police arrived.

The woman showed investigators photos of bruising from another domestic attack on Dec. 9, when she says Flatland picked her up and pushed her against a wall, according to court documents.

RELATED | Man accused of assaulting woman says he was trying to cuddle with her

When police spoke to Flatland about the attack on Dec. 19, 2019, he said he had been trying to cuddle with the woman when they fell to the floor. He denied the physical altercation went any further.

Flatland made headlines in 2016 when his 1-year-old daughter drowned in the bathtub while his ex-wife, Kelsee Flatland, was on her phone. She pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child and spent time in jail. Police said Paul Flatland had no knowledge the infant was in the bathtub while he was downstairs playing video games.

Paul Flatland later told EastIdahoNews.com he was not playing video games but was working in the garage. Prosecutors did not charge him in connection to the infant’s death.

Clark also ordered Flatland to pay a $1,000 fine for the battery.

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