News Reports & Comment

Moscow-Pullman Daily News: Hearing set for probation violation charge

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

An evidentiary hearing on convicted sex offender Steven Sitler’s alleged probation violation will take place July 20. The hearing was set after a status conference Monday afternoon in Latah County’s Second District Court. Sitler was arrested June 18 on an allegation he violated his probation by engaging in voyeurism. . . .

Child abusers are unwelcome

Letters to the Editor Daily News

Serial child molester Steven Sitler was sentenced to life imprisonment several months ago. He served no hard time. He spent most of his incarceration in the local jail. His plea agreement says: “the volume and extent of acts by the defendant are greater than the investigator’s documentation” and “similar acts occurred in connection with minors now residing in other states.” Note the plurals. . . .

Moscow–Pullman Daily News: Prosecutor: Sitler arrested on allegations of voyeurism

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said convicted sex offender Steven Sitler was arrested Monday on an allegation he was engaging in voyeurism. Thompson said this was a violation of Sitler’s probation. . . .

Moscow–Pullman Daily News editorial: Time to revisit sex offender sentencing

Daily News Opinion

Recently, a man convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor child under the age of 16 was released on parole after serving 20 months of a life sentence. He is a first-time offender. The average time in an Idaho prison for any sex offender is about 42 months. We believe the system is broken if it allows such short sentences.

Moscow–Pullman Daily News: Advocate: Sex offender’s early release may be indicative of larger problem

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Convicted sex offender Steven Sitler was released on probation after a hearing last week, serving less than two years of a life sentence. . . .

Intelligence Report: Idaho Pastor a Hard-Liner, With an Exception or Two

Southern Poverty Law Center

Doug Wilson is no normal pastor. He is a biblical hard-liner, a man who in numerous books and speeches is quick to advocate the most draconian punishments of the Old Testament for all kinds of offenses, some quite minor. And that applies to the Sitler case directly, judging from what Wilson wrote in his 1999 book Fidelity: “When we are dealing with young children who are abused by adults (pederasty, child porn, etc.), the penalty for those guilty of the crime should be death.” Except . . .

New West: “More on the Steven James Sitler Child Molestation Case”

New West

Unnoticed and unremarked, Steven Sitler walked among us for 18 months. When Doug Wilson learned of Sitler’s crimes in April of 2005, he did not warn us; he did not inform us; and, to date, he has not seen fit to apologize for failing to alert the members of his church or the larger Moscow community to the presence of this predator in our midst.

New West: “Two Child Molestation Scandals Break Over Moscow’s Christ Church”

New West

For 18 months, a serial child molester named Steven James Sitler called Moscow home. He boarded with a Christ Church family. He attended Doug Wilson’s New St. Andrews College. How did the community and members of Christ Church learn of Steven Sitler’s crimes? On a local blog and, later, on an Internet community chat group. What’s wrong with this picture? Everything. . . .

Moscow-Pullman Daily News: Christian college defends actions amid rumors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Accusations that New Saint Andrews College kept knowledge of a sex offender and his activities under wraps has put college officials on the defensive. . . .

[Vision2020] shamelessness

Moscow Vision 2020

I will answer as many of these questions as I can with the information I have in the case file. Court records and prosecutorial records must be gathered from those entities. This will be my last posting about this case; I simply do not have time to do the job of an investigative reporter, court clerk, and secretary in addition to my duties at the Sheriff’s Office. . . .