Robert Joe Harrison, Jr., accused of kidnapping a 10-year-old Ketchum boy in April, was released Monday night from the Blaine County Jail after posting $20,000 bond.
Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert Elgee reduced his bond at a court hearing Monday, June 6. Harrison was previously being held on a $500,000 bond.
Harrison, 50, of Ketchum, is required under a court stipulation to leave the area and return to Walla Walla, Wash., where he lived before moving to the Wood River Valley about one year ago. He is required to return to Blaine County for his trial, which is scheduled to start July 25.
Harrison, a security officer with the federal Transportation Security Administration at Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey, was arrested April 11 for allegedly enticing a Hemingway Elementary School student into his vehicle on April 10. According to Ketchum police, he released the boy unharmed later that day.
A Blaine County grand jury indicted Harrison on a second-degree kidnapping charge, an offense punishable in Idaho by up to 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
His bond was initially set at $500,000 because local authorities said they were investigating other possible crimes by Harrison.
However, his new attorney, Kevin Cassidy, of the Roark Law Firm in Hailey, argued successfully before Elgee at Monday's hearing that Harrison had not been charged with any other crimes and the high bail was unjustified.
Cassidy, the third attorney to represent Harrison on the kidnapping charge, was appointed legal counsel on Thursday. He replaced Hailey attorney Cheri Hicks, who requested to withdraw from the case last week. Hicks had replaced Ketchum attorney Stephen Thompson, who requested to withdraw from the case in late April.
Both Hicks and Thompson cited unspecified conflicts. Court proceedings on both withdrawal requests were closed to the public.
