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Flathead County Woman Accused of Assault
Pleads Guilty
Flathead Industries employee admits to sexually assaulting disabled client
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
A 47-year-old woman pleaded guilty
to felony criminal endangerment three months after she was accused of hav- ing sex with a disabled man at the group home where she worked.
Elaine Marie Cooper appeared at a change-of-plea hearing in Flathead County District Court on Sept. 22.
According to court documents, a 29-year-old resident of a Flathead Indus- tries group home went to the Kalispell
BRIEFS
Bigfork Man Being Investigated for Securities Fraud
A Bigfork man that a federal judge once said was “dangerous to the money and property of others” is being investi- gated in a case alleging he defrauded 36 investors.
The state Securities Department alleges John “Kevin” Moore and his busi- ness, Big Sky Mineral Resources, sold $2.7 million in investments in oil leases without registering the securities with the state and without registering as a securities broker.
Lynne Egan, deputy securities com- missioner, said four people complained they had made investments but received minimal or inaccurate information about Big Sky Mineral Resources, they did not receive a prospectus and that Moore did not respond to requests for information about the company’s corporate gover- nance, corporate taxation, operating agreements, leases, assets and liabilities.
Securities o cials allege the leases don’t exist and Moore was operating a Ponzi scheme, using money from new investors to make payments to earlier investors. Moore told The Associated Press on Thurs- day that that he has oil leases registered in Lewis and Clark County.
An a davit led with the District Court in Kalispell alleges Moore’s bank accounts took in $2.7 million and made $886,000 in payments to investors, while nearly $800,000 in cash was withdrawn and hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on mortgages, vehicles and other personal expenses for Moore.
District Judge Robert Allison on Tues- day granted a temporary order restrain- ing Moore from selling investments and disposing of any assets. He set a Sept. 30 hearing for Moore to argue why his assets shouldn’t be frozen. No criminal charges have been led.
The bank transactions list in the
Police Department in April to report that Cooper had sexually assaulted him.
Flathead Industries is a nonpro t that provides housing and services for people with disabilities. According to court doc- uments, Cooper had a “supervisory” role over the victim.
The victim told police that starting in January, Cooper performed sexual acts on him and had him do the same to her. According to court documents, Cooper told the victim “she received sexual grat- i cation from their encounters.” Deputy
a davit includes a $450,000 payment from Moore’s accounts to Summit Oil. The Big Sky Mineral Resources website includes documents showing Summit West Oil transferred interest in about 60,000 acres of oil leases to Big Sky Min- eral Resources in September 2014. Lewis and Clark County recorded the transfer in June 2015, according to the county website.
Moore’s record includes a May 2003 guilty plea to federal mail fraud charges for portraying himself as a licensed out- tter in mailing materials to potential cli- ents. He was sentenced to the six months he had already served in prison and put on probation for three years. However he violated the terms of his probation, including passing $500,000 through two bank accounts and taking out a $29,000 loan without notifying his probation o - cer. His probation was revoked and U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell sentenced him to 12 months in prison.
“The court nds that the defendant is dangerous to the money and property of others and that protection of the public requires,” that his probation be revoked, Lovell wrote.
Court records said Moore had previ- ous convictions for defrauding a person of $75,000 in a “gold coin scheme,” defraud- ing someone else in the sale of a painting and for writing bad checks.
Moore referred further questions to his attorney, Shawn Hinchey of Kalis- pell. Hinchey did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Arlee Woman Pleads Guilty to Her Role in Nephew’s Death
A 24-year-old Arlee woman has pleaded guilty to her role in the beating death of her 18-year-old nephew.
KERR-AM reports Kassandra Seese pleaded guilty Sept. 21 to accountabil- ity to negligent homicide in the Feb. 17
County Attorney John Donovan wrote that all of the encounters happened at Flathead Industries’ group home.
Cooper initially pleaded not guilty in June to a felony count of sexual inter- course without consent, but earlier this month she accepted a deal where she would plead guilty to an amended charge of felony criminal endangerment.
Prosecutors are expected to recom- mend a three-year deferred sentence. She will be sentenced on Nov. 23.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
death of Richard Warner. Warner’s body was discovered in June covered with clothes and furniture in the shower of a trailer where Seese and her family had been living.
Prosecutors say Seese told investiga- tors that she and two children were pres- ent when Stephen Seese struck Warner in the head with a hammer.
The family continued to live in the trailer until early May. Two people mov- ing the trailer in June noticed a rancid odor and found Warner’s remains.
Lake County Attorney Steve Eschen- bacher says he is working on a plea agree- ment with Stephen Seese. For now, his trial is scheduled to start on Nov. 14.
Man Arrested in Possible Human- Tra cking Case
The Montana attorney general’s o ce says a man has been arrested in an inves- tigation into possible human tra cking.
Agency spokesman John Barnes says Terrance Tyrell Edwards was arrested last week in Billings. He is being held in the Yellowstone County jail without bond and faces a charge of promoting prostitution.
Lake County Sheri Don Bell said in a statement that Edwards kidnapped a 22-year-old Polson woman and held her against her will for 11 days. He says authorities were able nd and arrest Edwards after the woman called her mother from a cellphone.
Barnes says that based on interviews with the woman, it does not appear that she was abducted initially. But he says investigators are looking at her case as an instance of human tra cking, which involves holding a person under threat or duress.
In 2012, Edwards was given a ve-year suspended sentence for forcing his girl- friend into prostitution.
news@ atheadbeacon.com
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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