A 42-year-old Kalispell man accused of sexually assaulting the 5-year-old son of a Kalispell woman he was living with has been acquitted, but he remains jailed on a separate rape charge involving an 11-year-old girl.
A jury deliberated for six hours Thursday before finding Jason Dean Franks not guilty of rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors say Franks assaulted the boy in 2006, but they only filed charges when the allegations came to light last year. Franks was convicted in a separate sexual assault case in Missoula in 1993 and has been required to register as a sex offender ever since.
In May, prosecutors filed additional charges of rape and sexual assault involving an 11-year-old girl. Franks’ trial in that case is scheduled for Jan. 10