Teen charged with rape after 13-year-old girl informs family member

EDITOR’S NOTE: While EastIdahoNews.com has a policy of not identifying minors suspected of crimes, exceptions are made when the alleged perpetrators are charged as adults.

IDAHO FALLS — A 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with rape after a family member reported that he and another juvenile allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl.

Zaiden C. Evans of Idaho Falls is being charged with one felony count of rape, where the victim is incapable of giving legal consent. If he is found guilty, he faces up to life in prison.

What happened

According to court documents, on April 9, a deputy with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a sexual assault that had occurred.

The reporting party was a step-grandfather, who told deputies that Evans and an unnamed 16-year-old boy had raped his 13-year-old granddaughter.

The mother of the victim was in California at the time and had informed the step-grandfather of the assault.

Interviewing the victim, deputies learned that she had snuck out to meet with the 16-year-old, and was picked up by Evans and him.

When asked about knowing the 16-year-old, she said she met him at school, but he no longer attended. He now works in construction with a family member.

Evans and the 16-year-old took the victim to the residence where the 16-year-old lived. The victim said the 16-year-old was living in a camper trailer next to her step-grandfather’s home, and was unsure if his parents were inside.

Once inside, the victim, the 16-year-old, and Evans were “hanging out,” and that’s when the 16-year-old began to have sex with her. The victim claims that it was consensual.

It is unclear if the 16-year-old was charged in this incident.

It was after the two finished having sex that the victim told officers that Evans forced himself on her.

The document states the victim told Evans to stop multiple times, but he refused. She said she tried to fight him off, but was unable to.

After the assault, the victim said she was taken back to her step-grandfather’s residence.

The deputy collected the clothes she had worn during the assault and informed the victim and her step-grandparent of the scheduled time to do a sexual examination and a forensic interview.

On Sept. 17, a deputy following up on the report had received the DNA results from the sexual assault exam, which showed the victim had two different male DNA profiles on her body.

A warrant for DNA swabs of Evans was obtained and executed on Sept. 25. The document states that on Nov. 19, the DNA report was returned and showed that from the victim’s exam, Evans’s DNA was found in two locations on the victim’s private parts.

Evans will be tried as an adult

Evans will be tried as an adult for the alleged rape.

Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal told EastIdahoNews.com that, according to Idaho Code 20-508, 20-509 and Idaho Juvenile Rules 26, there are mandatory waivers for certain crimes a juvenile is alleged to have committed, which are waived to adult court. The juvenile also has to be between the ages of 14 and 18 years old and have committed major crimes like murder, rape, and first-degree arson.

“The decision is made by statute, rather than by the judge… must be that span from 14 to 18 to commit one of the enumerated crimes, rape being one of those, then it is non-discretionary. It has to be handled by the district court rather than the juvenile court,” Neal said.

However, when it comes to punishment, Neal said it doesn’t necessarily fall into the adult realm and may fall back onto the juvenile system, adult prison, or a hybrid of the two. If it does go down to a consequence to be served in the juvenile system, the jurisdiction of that system lasts until age 21.

Evans is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge John Dewey for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. on Jan. 28.

Though Evans has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.