Woman says she was 'coaxed' into prostitution

The prosecution and defense continued their strategies of depicting dueling portraits of Kalispell businessman Dick Dasen Sr. during the eighth day of his prostitution trial.

Dasen, 62, is on trial for 14 prostitution-related charges, including sexual exploitation of children and sexual intercourse without consent. The case is in Flathead County District Court.

"He said I didn't have to do anything and he would still help me, but he coaxed me," said witness Tara Sherman, 25, as she described her initial sexual encounter with Dasen in December 2003.

Sherman's testimony echoed other witnesses' statements about Dasen's alleged relationships with other women: He didn't state sexual favors were a requirement for him to help the women with money, but that was the understood deal.

When she told Dasen she was nervous about engaging in a sex act with him, he told her he would be gentle and encouraged her, Sherman testified.

On Wednesday and in previous days, the prosecution has portrayed Dasen as a man who exploited women and essentially turned them into prostitutes. The defense has told the jury that Dasen may have had sexual encounters with several of the witnesses, but he wanted to help, not exploit, them.

Sherman said she met Dasen through a friend who was "going to Dasen for financial reasons" and Dasen gave her his cell phone number to call if she ever wanted to see him or needed help. She called him, and he explained how things work, she said.

"Basically girls are to get a motel room, call him back with a room number and meet him there," Sherman told the jury.

That conversation began a relationship wherein Sherman periodically engaged in sex acts with Dasen and received money. Occasionally, though, she met Dasen and he gave her money without any sexual exchange, she said. As an example, she mentioned two instances when they met and one or the other was pressed for time. So they skipped the sexual encounter and Dasen just wrote her a check.

Dasen's attorney, George Best, asked her to clarify what stipulations she put on the agreement.

"Is it true you never said, 'I'll have sex with you only if you give me money'?" Best asked.

"True," Sherman replied.

Sherman said she typically received checks from Dasen for $1,000. Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams produced as evidence several checks written by Dasen to Sherman and motel receipts with Sherman's name signed to them that the county says back up her testimony.

The witness also told the jury that at one point in their relationship, she told Dasen she thought he was likely to get caught by police and they had better end their relationship.

Adams asked Sherman about Dasen's response.

"That they had been saying that for 20 years, and he laughed," she said.

Sherman acknowledged she began using methamphetamine before she met Dasen and that she has been using various drugs off and on since she was a teenager. Much of the money she got from Dasen paid for drugs and gambling, she said.

As they continued to meet, she upped her intake.

"Once I started seeing Dick," she said, "I used the drugs more to make myself numb. I hated myself. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror."

Sherman is now on felony parole for charges related to writing bad checks, a situation Dasen contributed to because he wrote her a few checks that bounced and she had overdrawn her account by the time she knew his checks didn't clear, she said.

Those charges were brought last summer. The last time Sherman met with Dasen was early 2004. Tying Dasen's alleged bad checks to her financial problems doesn't make sense, Best told her.

Best asked Sherman if she thought Dasen gave her money to help her "be a good mom" to her daughter or help her go to college. She said he did tell her he wanted to help. But she also told Best that she thought Dasen would have given her money even if he had known she was using drugs.

Reporter Camden Easterling may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com