Great Falls youth charged with sexual assault

GREAT FALLS — Cascade County officials say a Great Falls High School football player faces rape and sexual assault charges for alleged incidents involving teammates in the locker room this fall.

The Great Falls Tribune reports that 18-year-old Alex Botina-Roehm was arrested Monday and is charged with assaulting two students. His bail was set at just over $100,000.

The school district announced Tuesday it is launching its own investigation, particularly into allegations that school officials knew about the assault in September but failed to turn information over to police until the family of one of the alleged victims contacted police on Friday.

Court records say the assaults involved what is known as “power gobbling,” coming up from behind an intended target and placing one arm between their legs, wrapping the other arm around their body and lifting them off the ground.

Roehm is accused of being repeatedly involved in this activity during the fall. One victim reported to police that one of the times Roehm did the power gobbling move on him, Roehm also inserted his thumb into his rectum.

Roehm, a senior offensive lineman on the Bison football team this fall, faces a felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent and two misdemeanor charges of sexual assault.

The mother of one of the alleged victims went to school authorities on Sept. 14. She contacted police last week after learning Roehm’s conduct had not ceased and was not addressed by school staff.

Great Falls Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Tom Moore said Tuesday that the school district is launching its own internal investigation, according to the Great Falls Tribune.

Moore said his office was first made aware of the allegations on Friday by the school resource officer.

The Great Falls case is unfolding at the same time as a similar case in Kalispell.

Two Glacier High School freshmen have been charged with assault for an alleged incident Sept. 12 on a football team bus.

Four youths allegedly were dragged to the back of the bus and assaulted on the way back from a game in Missoula.

Although an initial report from School Resource Officer Jason Parce suggested that two alleged assailants — later identified as Logan Jones and Charles Calobeer — could be charged with sexual assault, the Flathead County Attorney’s Office filed charges of assault instead.

Both youths denied the charges last week.

In the Glacier High case, school officials completed their own investigation before Parce launched his police investigation.