BOULDER, Colo. >> A district judge has delayed the trial for a former Hawaii man accused of raping an autistic boy last summer to consider whether the boy can be protected from questioning by the "rape shield" law. Trial delayed in
alleged rape of boyA former Hawaii man is accused of
raping an autistic 13-year-oldAssociated Press
The law is designed to protect victims of alleged sexual assault by preventing questioning about their sexual history except in certain circumstances, including false reporting of assault.
Public defender Steve Jacobson said during a hearing Thursday that the law should not apply to the boy in the case because he falsely accused another teenager of sexually assaulting him in October.
Jacobson represents Jason Kalani Mook, a 38-year-old transient accused of luring the 13-year-old boy into a sauna and raping him at the Boulder YMCA on June 6.
In October the boy told a Boulder police officer that he was sexually assaulted by a teenage friend.
Later, the boy described it as consensual sex, according to police.
Prosecutor Rob Shapiro said the boy did not lie when he reported the assault in October. He said the boy uses the term "sexual assault" to describe intercourse.
District Judge Morris Sandstead agreed to postpone Mook's trial to Feb. 24 from Jan. 27 to allow further testimony on the matter. A hearing was scheduled for Jan. 27.
Police said Mook is a convicted sex offender who failed to register in Boulder and had previously been convicted of raping a woman with muscular dystrophy in Hawaii.
Mook faces possible charges of sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on an at-risk juvenile, enticement of a child and failure to register as a sex offender.