Posted on 09/11/2001 5:35:18 AM PDT by SubGeniusX
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Republican will plead not guilty to child sex
GOP activist is accused of session with 13-year-old
By Lynn Bartels, News Capitol BureauHe named his dogs after Presidents Reagan and Nixon. He tirelessly campaigned for Republican candidates. He signed on as one of Gov. Bill Owens' re-election coordinators. Randy Ankeney, 30, was a fixture in El Paso County Republican politics until his arrest in July in a sex scandal involving a young girl. "I think Randy worked on just about every campaign down here," said Sen. Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs attorney and former state employee is accused of giving alcohol and marijuana to a 13-year-old Fountain girl he met through the Internet, using the moniker "coloradofella." She told police she allowed him to photograph her topless, but became frightened when he tried to take off her pants and asked her to touch him. "She began to cry, begging him to leave her alone," an arrest affidavit states. Ankeney's lawyer, Kevin Donovan, said Wednesday the affidavit contains a "number of misstatements" made to police. "I'm confident that we're going to win this once all the facts are out," Donovan said. "There are things that will show that he's not guilty." Ankeney, who declined to comment, is scheduled to appear in El Paso County District Court today. Donovan said Ankeney will waive his right to a preliminary hearing and plead not guilty to a variety of charges, including sexual assault on a child, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia. A trial date will be set today. Ankeney had worked since November as one of the governor's economic development representatives. He resigned his $63,000-a-year state job after the arrest. Owens' spokesman, Dick Wadmans, said he had no idea that Ankeney was listed on Owens' 2002 re-election Web site as the El Paso County coordinator until after the arrest. McElhany said he was surprised to learn his colleagues considered him Ankeney's "mentor." "Really?" he said. "I knew him, of course, but that's because he was involved in a lot of campaigns around here." By all accounts, Ankeney is closest to Rep. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, a freshman lawmaker. Cadman said he was reluctant to comment. Ankeney had once worked as an intern for U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley. His wife, state Rep. Lynn Hefley, said she cried when she heard about the arrest, both for Ankeney and for the girl. "Randy is such a talented young man," she said. "If the charges are true, he threw his life and his career away." The 13-year-old told police that she and her friend were chatting via the Internet on July 21. The friend asked her to message a man with the screen name "coloradofella" and tell him to leave her alone. The 13-year-old said she messaged "coloradofella" and they chatted. She told him she was "around 14" and he said he was 25, according to the arrest affidavit. He then got her phone number, called her at home and asked about her sexual preferences, she told police. "He thought they would be good in bed," the affidavit states. "Coloradofella" arranged to pick up the teen-ager several houses away from her home, police said. The girl said she then told him she was 13 and planned to run away. They drove to his house in the 600 block of East Vrain Street, where she said she saw numerous pictures of President Bush, according to the affidavit. The girl said she and the man, who called himself "Ron," watched television, drank and smoked marijuana. He photographed her topless and she fell asleep, according to the affidavit. The girl told police she awoke to find "Ron" rubbing her back with lotion. When he tried to undress her, she became upset and he apologized. She said he told her if she told anyone "he would ruin her life."
Contact Lynn Bartels at (303) 892-5327 or bartels@RockyMountainNews.com.
September 6, 2001
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