Teen's rape trial canceled when witness balks

Charges against a Flathead County teen arrested in connection with the August 2006 rape of a Kalispell youth home resident were dropped Tuesday after a key witness refused to cooperate, prosecutors said.

Jury selection in the trial of 18-year-old Matthew Michael Foster had been scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.

The state was forced to dismiss rape charges after the father of Foster's alleged victim refused to tell, or allow his daughter to tell, prosecutors where she ran away the day following the incident, said Deputy Flathead County Attorney Lori A. Adams.

All prosecutors know is that the girl showed up at her stepsister's house in Deer Lodge three days after disappearing from the youth home, Adams said.

Adams, who called the girl a "crucial witness," said prosecutors can re-file charges if they learn from other sources where and with whom she spent that missing time.

The girl, who was 12 when the rape allegedly occurred, told prosecutors the day before the trial started that she would not answer questions about where she had been - a situation that could easily have resulted in the judge dismissing the charges during the trial.

"I'm not going to put a child through direct examination having to talk about a sex offense, and then a rigorous cross examination… just to have the case kicked," Adams said.

While the girl reportedly wanted to testify, her father forbade her from divulging where she had been after running away, according to court papers dismissing the charges.

"There's no way you can get a conviction when your victim, from the stand, won't answer a question," Adams said.

Attorneys began asking questions about the girl's apparent disappearance while reviewing Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services records in preparation for trial.

Foster's attorney, public defender Glen M. Neier, was not available Wednesday for comment.

Foster was accused of performing sex acts on the girl and forcing her, at knife-point, to perform sex acts upon him, according to court documents.

He was 15 at the time of the alleged rape, but authorities charged him as an adult in Flathead County District Court.

Prosecutors allege the rape occurred in a bathroom of the Flathead Attention Home, a facility which has moved and is now known as the Flathead Youth Home, in late August 2006. The alleged victim informed youth home staff members of the attack later the same day, despite Foster's reported threats to kill her.

"We believe that the incident happened and we feel very badly for the victim that she could not get her vindication in court, but we were left with nothing else to do," Adams said.

Foster pleaded not guilty in October 2006 to the now-dismissed charge of sexual intercourse without consent, a felony.

When the alleged rape occurred, Foster was in the custody of the youth home awaiting trial on sexual assault and assault with a weapon charges stemming from a prior incident, court records show.

He was convicted of the sexual assault charge and incarcerated until age 18 at the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com