Blackfoot man charged with lewd conduct and child sex abuse after 13-year-old girl tells police
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POCATELLO — A 36-year-old man is facing multiple felony charges of sexual abuse of a child after a 13-year-old girl reported the assault to law enforcement.
Richard Ray Vernieu is facing two felony counts of lewd conduct with a minor and two felony counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16.
EastIdahoNews.com has reached out to the Bannock County Public Defender’s Office to see if Vernieu has been appointed a defense attorney. We were informed he was not appointed one, and we will update the story once one has been assigned.
According to court documents, an officer with the Pocatello Police Department was contacted by the victim on March 26 about Vernieu allegedly having inappropriately touched her during a “massage.”
The documents detail that Vernieu was temporarily living at the home with the victim and her family. The documents do not state if Vernieu is a family friend or related to the family.
During a forensic interview on May 14, the victim recounted the incident that occurred on or about Oct. 3, when she was on a couch, when Vernieu offered to do a massage for her.
The victim described that Vernieu placed a blanket on top of her and inappropriately touched her. She said that the incident caused her physical pain and discomfort.
During this incident, a family member who was pretending to be asleep saw Vernieu improperly touching the victim. He heard the victim cry in pain and heard Vernieu respond, “Chill out, it’s just a massage.”
When the family member stirred, Vernieu moved his hands away from the victim.
The victim also described a second instance where Vernieu had inappropriately touched her, which occurred later the same day as the previous incident.
She said that Vernieu had suggested that they take a nap, and while in bed, she described how the 38-year-old man inappropriately touched her.
The victim reported that Vernieu was aggressive in how he groped her, and when she tried to move away, she felt Vernieu physically resist this.
The document states that the same family member who saw the initial instance of inappropriately touching had followed Vernieu and the victim to the bedroom. It states that, out of concern for the safety of the victim, he lay between her and Vernieu.
It was after these incidents that the victim had told her mother of what had happened with Vernieu.
In text messages, the victim’s parents confronted Vernieu about this, and he apologized, saying he did not want to get the victim in trouble.
The mother later confronted Vernieu again with the victim, where Vernieu apologized directly to her and said he did not know what he did was wrong.
However, he commented that if the victim did not like what happened, she should’ve told him to stop.
Days after the forensic interview, the mother participated in a recorded call on May 29 with Vernieu about the incidents. He admitted that he gave a massage to the victim, but that he got high on her leg, and denied having any sexual intent.
Vernieu was arrested that same day and booked into the Bannock County Jail. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 3 p.m. on June 10 before Magistrate Judge Aaron Thompson.
Though Vernieu has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.