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News brief: Lewis County luring conviction reversed by appeals court

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

An appeals court yesterday tossed out a rural Chehalis man’s conviction for luring saying it wasn’t a crime when he rode his bicycle past a child and stated, “Do you want some candy? I’ve got some at my house.”

The incident occurred in January 2011 near the Doty General Store when Russell D. Homan made the comment to a 9-year-old boy headed in the same direction, according to the opinion.

Homan continued on his Superman BMX child’s bicycle without slowing, stopping or looking back, according to C.C. Bridgewater, author of the opinion.

Homan was convicted by a judge in Lewis County Superior Court the summer before last of luring, a class C felony, and sentenced to 120 days.

His lawyer argued in appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction and the majority of the appeals court judges agreed, although noted his statement was probably ill-advised.

Washington Court of Appeals Division II yesterday reversed and remanded for dismissal with prejudice.

One member of the three-judge panel dissented, saying Homan was a stranger who attempted to lure a child to his house with candy.

For more [1], see State of Washington, respondent v. Russell David Homan, appellant: 42529-7