Girls tell of sex-for-pay encounters

Jurors heard more testimony Monday from girls regarding their encounters with Kalispell businessman Dick Dasen, including two who were minors at the time.

Jurors heard more testimony Monday from girls regarding their encounters with Kalispell businessman Dick Dasen, including two who were minors at the time.

Dasen, 62, is on trial in Flathead County District Court for 14 charges related to prostitution. Among the more serious charges are sexual intercourse without consent and sexual exploitation of children.

Dasen's attorney, George Best, pursued cross-examinations that questioned the truthfulness of witnesses, their backgrounds with drug use, and the specific nature of discussions leading to Dasen's encounters.

One girl, who was a minor at the time of her encounter with Dasen, described how another woman arranged for her to meet with Dasen because she was "desperate for money."

The girl admitted to smoking marijuana occasionally and trying cocaine and pills.

Under questioning from Best, the girl indicated that there were no specific negotiations between the two. She said that the woman who arranged the encounter had explained to her the terms she could expect.

"Did you ever say, we aren't going to do this unless we get paid?" Best asked.

"No," the girl replied.

"Did you ever, at any time, instruct Mr. Dasen not to touch you?" Best asked.

"No," the girl said.

Best asked the girl about how she had been advised by the woman who arranged the encounter to lead him to believe she was older than 18.

"He's going to know I'm under 18 because I had bright pink braces on," the girl said.

Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski referred to explicit photographs of the girl that the jury has looked at.

"Who took these pictures?" Guzynski asked.

"Mr. Dasen," the girl replied.

"How old were you at this time?"

"Sixteen," the girl said.

The next witness was Kimberly Neise, who testified that she had sexual encounters with Dasen, and arranged for him to meet with others, including two minors so that she could receive a "referral check."

Neise described how she was addicted to methamphetamine and had needle "tracks" all over her arms, how she was unemployed, and how Dasen was her only source of income for several months in 2003.

She confirmed a series of checks that Dasen wrote to her over a one-month period in the summer of 2003, totaling $15,000. She later said she spent all of that money, but had failed to pay her rent and was forced to leave her townhouse three months later.

Best questioned Neise about her use of crystal methamphetamine, the drug's effect on her memory, and criminal charges she faced.

Last year, Neise pleaded guilty to felony theft and aggravated promotion of prostitution, a charge related to arranging other girls to meet with Dasen.

Best asked her about the felony theft charge, and Neise responded that it involved taking money from her grandmother.

Under questioning from Guzynski, Neise admitted that she lied in several of her initial interviews with Kalispell police detectives. She said she lied because she potentially faced severe maximum penalties, and she was "scared to death."

After spending six months in jail, she said, she decided to tell detectives the truth.

Best pressed Neise on her truthfulness. And again, he asked questions about whether Dasen expressly discussed financial terms prior to an encounter.

Neise said "it was implied" that in order to get money, she had to have sex with Dasen.

"That's what you thought," Best asked.

"That what it was," she said.

"Did Mr. Dasen ever say that?" Best asked.

"He didn't have to. That's what it was," she said.

Regarding the arrangement for Dasen to meet with two minors, Best asked, "Did you ever tell them to tell him that they were older than 18?"

"I might have," Neise said.

One of those girls was called to the stand Monday afternoon. She described how she, then 16, and her friend, then 15, arranged an encounter with Dasen after meeting Neise.

She said that Neise did indeed advise them to tell Dasen that they were older than 18. But she went on to say that he didn't ask about their ages, and they didn't offer their ages.

She said she and her friend intended to have sexual contact with each other while he watched, but they did not want to have contact with him.

The encounter did not go that way, however, and the girl said Dasen performed oral sex and used sex toys on them.

When Guzynski asked her to identify Dasen in the courtroom, she averted her eyes from him and tearfully pointed in his direction. Judge Stewart Stadler called for a recess.

Under cross-examination from Best, the girl said that her mother had filed a lawsuit against Dasen, and that Best just happened to be representing her mother in a divorce case. Best said that after learning of the lawsuit, he could no longer represent the girl's mother in the divorce.

Best asked if she was a willing participant in the lawsuit, and the girl responded that she was not because she "had no interest in furthering this matter."

Best asked her if she was aware that the lawsuit seeks $650,000 in damages from Best. She said she did not know that, and that she has not discussed financial terms with her attorney.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com