Deputy prosecutor denies threatening Pasco councilman

The deputy prosecutor handling a Pasco councilman’s child sex case said she never threatened to have Chi Flores arrested, but expressed concern that he wanted to be at a building where he might run into the girl.

Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Astley said the issue, that’s led to a defense motion to dismiss the case, was of lawyer Scott Johnson’s own making.

Johnson, who represents Flores in the Franklin County Superior Court case, could have completely avoided the situation by having Flores’ wife alone bring their daughter to an interview, where the alleged victim was also going to be with her family.

Instead, Johnson insisted that Flores be there, said Astley.

“When (Astley) pointed out the fact that (Johnson) was potentially and unnecessarily placing his client in jeopardy of violating a validly executed no-contact order and his conditions of release, the case goes fully off the rails as defense counsel mischaracterizes the email as a threat and improperly argued that enforcement of the court’s no-contact order was an effort to ‘bully and intimidate,’ ” Astley wrote in a nine-page response that includes several attachments.

Johnson filed his motion Sept. 20. Astley’s written reply was submitted to the court earlier this week in advance of a hearing on the issue. Arguments now are set for Oct. 10.

Flores, 39, asked to have his trial pushed to Nov. 15. He is charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation.

Johnson’s motion accuses Astley of prosecutorial misconduct and says the charges should be dropped because the investigation has been hindered by her threats. If the case is not dismissed, Astley should be required to testify at the trial, the motion said.

Johnson claims his client won’t get a fair trial because police never talked to his daughter, who was in the room both times the alleged victim claims she was sexually assaulted. The defense has denied the allegations.

The grade-school girl told her older brother that Flores inappropriately touched her while at his house, according to court documents.

Astley said the girl told investigators that Flores’ daughter “was present in the room on each occasion, but was asleep or had her head covered. To put it another way, there is no allegation that (the daughter) witnessed or had the ability to witness either incident.”

However, Astley added that even if Flores’ daughter did not personally see what happened, she should be interviewed because she was present and could be called as a witness by the defense.

His daughter was scheduled to sit down with a trained child advocate earlier this month, and the victim was going to be in the same building with her family.

Astley questioned why Johnson waited more than a week, until the day of the interview, to let them know Flores was coming with his daughter. Johnson also never explained how Flores would avoid seeing the victim and her family.

Johnson canceled the meeting. Astley said she has offered to reschedule it.

Flores was appointed to the Pasco City Council last fall to represent District 4. His term is up at the end of December after losing in the primary election to challengers.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Deputy prosecutor denies threatening Pasco councilman."