Bigfork man arrested on rape charge

The Daily Inter Lake

A 37-year-old Bigfork man is charged with rape after Whitefish Police alleged that he was having sex with a 14-year-old Washington girl in Whitefish.

James Whitmarsh was already in custody last week for allegedly violating terms of his release on house arrest for a pending felony DUI trial.

Police were called by the girl's father in Washington on Tuesday. He believed his daughter was staying at the Chalet Motel with a 40-year-old man.

Officer Melissa Caputo went to the motel, where she found the girl had checked into a room four days earlier with a man who used the false name, Jim Workman. He told motel workers that the girl is his daughter.

Caputo contacted the girl, who was taken into custody as a runaway.

The girl told Whitefish police that she had been having sex with Whitmarsh for some time.

If convicted, Whitmarsh faces up to 100 years in prison.