Sex assault suspect now facing witness tampering charges
A Park City man accused of sexually assaulting a young teenage girl is now facing new felony charges alleging that he tampered with witnesses from jail.
Christopher Douglas Oak, 38, is accused of telling three different family members that a witness in the case “needed to be convinced to assist him in getting another attorney and to withdraw the standing order of protection currently in place,” according to court documents filed Wednesday by the Stillwater County Attorney’s Office.
The alleged conversations took place last week by phone from the Yellowstone County Detention Facility, where Oak has been since his Aug. 9 arrest. The new charges are three felony counts of tampering with a witness. Those are in addition to the three felony sexual assault charges to which he pleaded not guilty last week. Bail is set at $300,000.
He pleaded denied all the new charges Thursday morning in 22nd Judicial Court.
If he is able to post bail, he will not be allowed to leave jail until he is fitted with a GPS tracking device “so the court knows where he is at all times,” District Judge Blair Jones said.
Defense attorney Greg Paskell had sought a bail reduction in the amount of $25,000, saying Oak is a veteran with Post Traumatic Stress issues and recently had attempted suicide.
Rohde countered, saying the suicide attempt came after the victim “disclosed” the assaults and that “more than something military” was going on.
THE CASE
According to court documents, Oak allegedly had sexual contact with a young girl under the age of 16 in recent months.
The contact consisted of Oak allegedly exposing himself to the girl and making her touch him, making her watch an erotic movie that included violence and sexual dominance, according to court documents.
The misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children is based on Oak allegedly allowing and encouraging the girl to drink an alcoholic beverage, according to court documents.
Three days before the girl was interviewed by Stillwater and Yellowstone county deputies, Oak attempted suicide, according to Stillwater County Sheriff’s Dispatch records and court documents.
Deputies were able to find Oak and get him to a Billings hospital, where he was treated.