Story dated May 9, 2007 - James Pepcorn, 67, a retired teacher, was arrested and charged with one count of rape and one count of lewd conduct with a child under 16 years old.
Pepcorn was hired by Cassia County School District in 1966, and taught at Burley High School for six years. He then transferred to Burley Junior High School, where he taught science until he retired in 1994, according to school district records.
The Pepcorn family indicated he used the threat of violence against family members to prevent disclosure and told them he would never go to jail, which prompted the bond to be set so high.When Pepcorn was arrested he was armed with a 9 mm handgun, but was placed under arrest without incident. He's being held on a $1 million bond. (Bail reduced to $100,000 in June.)
NEW CHARGES Nov 19 - The trial has been delayed. New charges have been added. A Special Prosecutor took over the case when Minidoka County Prosecutor Jason Walker recused himself to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Walker's law firm at the time had represented Pepcorn in a civil matter some years earlier.
A preliminary will be held on the new charges new charges of two counts of lewd conduct and one count of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 16, stem from the testimony of a second alleged victim who has come forward since Pepcorn's arrest in April.
The first victim is now in her 20s. Bail for Pepcorn was originally set at $1 million, then reduced to $100,000 in May. Stipulations for bail reduction require monitoring of his location with a Global Positioning System tracker.
NEW CHARGES Feb 6, 2008 - Judge Rick Bollar found sufficient evidence to move forward with newly-filed lewd conduct and sexual abuse charges against Pepcorn. Since his arrest, new charges have been filed including two counts of lewd conduct and one count of sexual abuse of a minor child.
Charges are expected to be combined as one case at a Feb. 11 hearing
NOT GUILTY PLEA March 10 - Pepcorn pleaded not guilty. He faces several charges of rape and lewd conduct with a minor, recently filed by Fifth District Court Judge John Melanson. Now it needs to be decided if the two cases will be combined before it all goes to trial. A consolidation hearing will be scheduled for April 28.
TENTATIVE TRIAL DATE Judge Melanson has set a tentative June 18th jury trial date, with a June 9th pretrial. We'll know by late April if the two cases can be combined.
GUILTY VERDICT October 3 - A jury deliberated for more than five hours Thursday before finding Pepcorn guilty of 3 counts of lewd conduct with a child, rape and two counts of sexual abuse of a child. A judge had agreed to move the trial to Twin Falls due to excessive pretrial publicity.
SENTENCING DATE Times News (Oct 4) Pepcorn could face life in prison
Pepcorn took the stand in his trial that spanned more than a week. He said he molested other children more than 30 years ago due to a hyperactive sex drive, but stopped after the 1970s.The statue of limitations has passed on those crimes . He will be sentenced Dec. 15 in Minidoka County.
