Pocatello man facing rape sentencing now accused in third child abuse case
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — A 21-year-old Pocatello man who’s facing two felony cases involving either rape or lewd conduct charges is now facing a third case, accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl since the age of 5.
Taisen Lopez-Scharer is facing four felony counts involving lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16 and three counts of rape, where the victim believes resistance would be futile and would result in more force or violence.
Lopez-Scharer is scheduled to appear for a sentencing on July 16 after accepting a plea agreement to plead guilty to one count of felony rape, dismissing three other rape charges. This also dismissed a case against him, where he was charged with four felony cases of possession of child sexual abuse materials.
Lopez-Scharer has been appointed a public defender. The Idaho State Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.
According to the police booking affidavit, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare had received a report that Lopez-Scharer had been sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl for several years.
This was initially reported to the Idaho Falls Police Department on Aug. 24, 2022. During a forensic interview on Aug. 30, the victim told police that Lopez-Scharer had been sexually assaulting her since she was 5 years old.
The victim also disclosed that other individuals had sexually assaulted her, and that it happened 20 times over a few years. She remembers telling Lopez-Scharer no, but Lopez-Scharer allegedly continued the assault.
Court documents show that the officer in charge of the investigation, after he resigned from the Idaho Falls Police Department, misled the victim’s mother by making it appear that he was investigating the abuse allegations. He claimed that in the years he had the case, he hadn’t found any evidence.
When Lopez-Scharer was interviewed in 2024, he reportedly told investigators that he sexually assaulted two other girls in Bonneville County.
The case was assigned to an IFPD detective on March 11, 2026.
RELATED | Pocatello man charged with statutory rape after allegedly impregnating teen
A detective at the Bannock County Jail interviewed Lopez-Scharer on March 13. At the time, the 21-year-old allegedly said a demon had possessed him since the age of 5 until he was 18.
Lopez-Scharer claims that the “demon” would take over and he’d “black out.” When he awoke, he had no memory of what he had done.
These claims go on to say that when he was left alone with the victim, he recalled instances of blacking out. If he had sexually assaulted the victim, he said he’d have no memory of it.
When the detective spoke with the family of Lopez-Scharer about the allegations of his “demon state,” court records say his father reported that Lopez-Scharer never said anything about that to him.
During another interview with the victim on April 3, she allegedly told the detective that when she began to cry during the assaults, Lopez-Scharer called her a “crybaby.”
Lopez-Scharer is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Michael Kirkham on July 15.
If found guilty, Lopez-Schearer faces up to life in prison.
Though Lopez-Scharer has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.