Man gets $1 million bond for alleged drugging and rape of local woman
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CHALLIS — A 40-year-old man is being held on a $1 million bond after a woman came forward with a rape allegation against him.
Dutch Cooper is charged with felony rape and a felony enhancement for being a persistent violator, stemming from previous felony convictions of receiving stolen property, grand theft, burglary, felon with a firearm, grand larceny and robbery out of multiple states.
According to court documents, on Sunday around 1:45 p.m., a 31-year-old woman came to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office to report she had been raped.
The woman stated she had gone to a bar in Challis on Saturday and, while walking home, saw a man on the street with his dog.
The man reportedly asked her to help him with his dog, and the victim told deputies she “loves animals, so she was happy to go assist the man.”
Identifying himself as Cooper, he asked the victim if she wanted to come to his house to see a couple of kittens he had. The woman agreed.
On their way to his house, the woman says Cooper was saying “some weird things to her,” including that he saw her walk around the corner of the bar, looking like “a glowing angel.”
He reportedly told her they had “met because of fate.”
When they arrived at the house, the woman said Cooper told her to “stay on the couch” while he went to make them drinks.
The woman told deputies she did not see Cooper make the drinks, but after drinking part of one, she “began to feel very weird and nauseous,” according to police reports.
After telling Cooper she needed to go home, he reportedly “insisted she finish her drink.”
The next thing the woman says she remembers is waking up and her clothes had been removed. There was also evidence of sexual assault.
When asked what she thought had happened, the victim began crying and stated she felt she had been raped.
She then traveled to Steele Memorial Hospital in Salmon and got a sexual assault evaluation done. The results are not included in police reports.
The woman also told deputies she had various injuries and soreness.
A warrant was issued for Cooper’s arrest on Tuesday, and he was booked into the Custer County Jail with a $1 million bond.
A no-contact order was issued for the victim, and Cooper is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 30. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
Though Cooper has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.