A 28-year-old Hailey man is being held in an eastern Idaho jail for a sex crime he allegedly committed in 2008 against a 14-year-old boy.
Zachery Craig Walker remained incarcerated Thursday in the Bingham County jail in Blackfoot. He was arrested in Hailey in March on a $100,000-bond fugitive warrant from Bingham County.
Walker was formally charged with the felony crime of sexual abuse of a child under 16 at an initial appearance on March 18 in Bingham County Magistrate Court. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Thursday, but court personnel reported that it has now been reset for April 14. Blackfoot attorney Cindy Campbell has been appointed public defender.
Sexual abuse of a child is punishable in Idaho by up to 25 years in prison.
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Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter said Walker was arrested at 5:20 p.m. on March 14 at his place of employment on Main Street in Hailey. Gunter said he didn't know how long Walker has lived in Blaine County.
Court records indicate that Walker previously lived in Shelley, where the crime allegedly occurred. Shelly is in northern Bingham County, several miles south of Idaho Falls.
The crime is alleged to have occurred on Sept. 1, 2008. Shelley Police Chief Alan Dial said Thursday that an investigation was initiated after the boy reported an alleged sex act against him to police in January.
Dial said the boy was Walker's stepson and was 14 at the time the crime was allegedly committed.
"I don't know if he [Walker] was living here or just visiting here," Dial said.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Zachery Craig Walker
