By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
An appeals court yesterday tossed out a rural Chehalis man’s conviction for luring saying it wasn’t a crime when he rode his bicycle past a child and stated, “Do you want some candy? I’ve got some at my house.”
The incident occurred in January 2011 near the Doty General Store when Russell D. Homan made the comment to a 9-year-old boy headed in the same direction, according to the opinion.
Homan continued on his Superman BMX child’s bicycle without slowing, stopping or looking back, according to C.C. Bridgewater, author of the opinion.
Homan was convicted by a judge in Lewis County Superior Court the summer before last of luring, a class C felony, and sentenced to 120 days.
His lawyer argued in appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction and the majority of the appeals court judges agreed, although noted his statement was probably ill-advised.
Washington Court of Appeals Division II yesterday reversed and remanded for dismissal with prejudice.
One member of the three-judge panel dissented, saying Homan was a stranger who attempted to lure a child to his house with candy.
For more, see State of Washington, respondent v. Russell David Homan, appellant: 42529-7
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
DCE you should know figures u would support something like this.
“Seriously? You don’t see a grown-up talking like this to a kid as suspicious behavior?”
No i’m not paranoid and scared of my own shadow. So of course I would NEVER find that kind of childish behavior on the part of an adult even surprising in the least bit. ESPECIALLY if they are from Doty. Are you suggesting that everybody in Doty only says things that can be deemed “non-suspicious” or “weird?”
What that guy said was immature and inappropriate, but that is all it was. People say immature and inappropriate things all the time everywhere, but they don’t end up in jail for it!
OLJ…’But sitting there saying that I believe it’s okay for adults to lure kids is hateful.’
OK…from your post of 12/21/2012 at 3:25pm: First of all the defendant said: “Hey kid, want some candy?” Since when is it illegal to ask a stranger a question? The defendant is also said to have stated: “I have some at my house.” Since when is it illegal to make blanket statements?
Seriously? You don’t see a grown-up talking like this to a kid as suspicious behavior?
I don’t argue that jailing him was going too far, or that his release isn’t a just decision. But don’t act as though his behavior isn’t suspect. We deal with a lot of sex offenders in Lewis County; you can’t go around uttering common sex-predator catchphrases and not draw unwanted attention.
If any of you want to believe that the Washington State Superior Court of appeals is corrupt and the Lewis County Court is not, then be my guest.
But sitting there saying that I believe it’s okay for adults to lure kids is hateful. But that’s just par for the L.C. course and people like you.
Quite the contrary, I believe it’s wrong to lure kids and people who do so should be prosecuted to the max. But even worse than luring kids is putting completely innocent people into jail based on fear, gossip, and clown-like hysteria.
J.Z. it was NOT LURING. The conviction was OVERTURNED.
At what point is that not sinking in? Is it because you believe that the LC Kangaroo Court is legitimate?
That’s sad. How many re-trials, mis-trials, and overturned convictions WILL it take to convince you that the corrupt LC Kangaroo Court is a JOKE?!?!?!
At what point is hersay a crime? This is a case of he said, he said. In fact the Lewis County Court Officials used fear and the publics view about sex offenses to escalate their Witch Hunt and scare the Fluoridated Jury half to death with Boogie Man Stories. The Prosecutor should win a Emmey Award for his story telling skills. The news has created fear in America, just mention the word candy, Bar or sand box around a child and your getting the Sex Offender Status Glued to your Record.
OldLongJohnson sees nothing wrong with trying to lure a child into a house with offers of candy. He defends such actions, and claims that people trying to protect their kids from perverts are small-minded. Draw your own conclusions on what kind of person OLJ must be.
First of all the defendant said: “Hey kid, want some candy?”
Since when is it illegal to ask a stranger a question? There was no threats made, and no attempt to even stick around for an answer.
The defendant is also said to have stated: “I have some at my house.” Since when is it illegal to make blanket statements? The guy didn’t even bother to stick around to show him where he lived!
Either way, the small-minded people of Lewis county, in typical fasion, have read WAY too much into some random person’s statements.
Lucky for Russell the Appeals Court Judges saw through the Lewis County bullshit and overturned their chickenshit conviction that was based on nothing but FEAR, EXAGGERATION, and GOSSIP.
Good job to the appeal judges in this case. Keep throwing out the L.C. Kangaroo Court conviction until they learn how to prosecute real criminals for once, instead of handing out plea bargains like they were candy to children!
Yeah, nine-year-old boys have nothing to fear from strange men offering them a ride home for some free candy. I’m sure it happened to you all the time when you were young.
Another kangaroo court conviction overturned. I wonder if prosecuting real criminals ever crosses the county attorney’s mind. I highly doubt it.
Just another Epic Failure for the Kangaroo Courts. The Centralia police tried to press charges against me for helping a lost blind man. I hope this guys sues the shit out of the County and Robert Snaza Personally. People want to file false charges then they can deal with the consequences. I would like to know what Kangaroo Judge he was in front of?
I would like to know his history. Might not fall under the luring laws but it seems Damn weird to me. He might oughta stay in Doty.. What I do know, is that in my neck of the woods that is exactly how it would be perceived. Still it would be interesting to know his past history.