Pocatello man charged with rape, child porn and sexual exploitation accepts plea agreement, dismissing nearly all charges
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POCATELLO — A 21-year-old facing multiple charges of child pornography, rape, and exploitation has accepted a plea agreement that will drop nearly all of the charges.
Taisen Lopez-Scharer currently has two active cases, with each impacting a different victim.
In the first case, which was filed in 2024, he was charged with four felony counts of rape. The second case, which was filed last year, he faces two charges of felony sexual exploitation of a child and two felony charges of possession of child porn.
On March 4, a plea agreement was submitted and signed by Lopez-Scharer, which states that the 21-year-old will plead guilty to only one count of rape, with the remaining charges in both cases being dismissed.
The agreement is nonbinding, meaning the judge does not have to accept it. The document does not state a sentencing recommendation.
Lopez-Scharer is scheduled to appear before District Judge Javier Gabiola for a change of plea at 9:30 a.m. on March 30.
Rape Charges
On Sept. 17, 2024, Lopez-Scharer, 19 at the time, was arrested after a mother called the Pocatello Police Department and said he was attempting to kick down the front door of her home. The mother told officers that her daughter was having a miscarriage and that Lopez-Scharer was the father.
Lopez-Scharer was interviewed by detectives, where he admitted to having sex with a woman’s daughter, who was 16, on four different occasions, and knew the girl was a minor.
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Child porn and sexual exploitation charges
In September, Lopez-Scharer was charged with four new felonies after a different mother in Iowa contacted the PPD after finding her daughter had sent explicit images to Lopez-Scharer.
According to a 134-page court document, Lopez-Scharer, 20 at the time, had been talking with this girl since December 2023, when the pair had been sending each other explicit videos. The documents also state he had talked with the girl about the rape charges and hoped to have that case dismissed.