Steamboat Pilot & Today

A Hayden man charged with the attempted murder of his 12-year-old daughter is facing additional charges after Idaho officials confirmed the girl was raped before she was stabbed.

John Rollins Tuggle, a registered sex offender, 37, is facing felony charges of rape, first-degree kidnapping and lewd contact with a child younger than 16, in addition to the attempted murder charge, Shoshone County Sheriff's Capt. Rick Smith said.

The additional charges were filed Aug. 5 by the Shoshone County Prosecutor's Office. Tuggle is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Tuggle allegedly took his daughter to a remote wooded area in northern Idaho on July 20 and is suspected of sexually assaulting her, stabbing her in the neck and groin and leaving her for dead. The girl was found by campers in the area and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., where she received medical treatment.

Tuggle was taken into custody July 27 after a weeklong search. A gas station clerk in Wallace, Idaho, recognized him from a wanted poster in the store and called police.

Tuggle is being held in solitary confinement on a $10 million bond at the Shoshone County Public Safety Building.

Smith said Tuggle most likely will waive his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday. The case might take a year or longer to resolve. Tuggle already waived his preliminary hearing for the attempted murder charge.

"It's going to be a drawn-out process," Smith said.

According to a story in the Spokane, Wash., Spokesman-Review, Tuggle, who hadn't seen his ex-wife or children for 10 years, had been notified just before his trip that his ex-wife was asking for additional child-support payments.

According to Kootenai Coun--ty court documents, Tuggle was mailed a notice July 8 -- about a week before he left for Idaho -- that his ex-wife was seeking additional child support.

Tuggle hadn't seen his children in a decade because he was in an Idaho prison serving a nine-year sentence for the rape of his then 13-year-old sister-in-law, who became pregnant as a result.

Tuggle was ordered to pay $100 a month in child support upon his release from prison, but his ex-wife petitioned the court in July 2004 to modify the child-support payments. State officials thought Tuggle should be required to pay $287 a month in child support. Tuggle never responded to the request for additional aid.

His ex-wife got full custody of the children, his daughter and an 11-year-old boy, after Tuggle was sentenced to jail.

Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds said Tuggle had been staying with his ex-wife and children for five days before the attack. Tuggle told his ex-wife he was taking his daughter to the mall the day of the attack but is suspected of taking her to the remote area where the assault took place.

-- To reach Alexis DeLaCruz, call 871-4234

or e-mail adelacruz@steamboatpilot.com