Judge declines to revoke accused child rapist’s bail

A judge declined to revoke bail for a man charged with child rape who is accused of violating court orders by being in contact with children, according to court documents.

Coy Bozeman, Jr., 52, pleaded not guilty in Island County Superior Court in May 2019 to two counts of child rape in the first degree and two counts of child molestation in the first degree.

Bozeman and his then-wife owned a private preschool on Midway Boulevard in Oak Harbor when he was accused of sexually assaulting three girls, ages 7, 8 and 11. Bozeman and his wife were baybsitting the girls. He was not accused of harming any children at the preschool.

Bozeman was released from jail after posting $75,000 bail, but is required to stay home with electronic monitoring. On Aug. 5, Judge Vickie Churchill gave him permission to travel to see his father in Medford, Ore., Aug. 6-29, but the conditions of his release included a prohibition against contact with children younger than 16.

A detective in Medford, however, received a complaint that Bozeman was interacting with numerous small children at homes owned by family members. The detective interviewed a number of children and their parents and was told that Bozeman had hugged, played with and roughhoused in a swimming pool with young kids, according to the detective’s report.

The detective wrote that Bozeman’s sister repeatedly denied that he had contact with children, but the investigation revealed that she “actively sought to have the children visit their ‘Uncle Coy.’” Bozeman is not accused of being inappropriate with the children in Oregon.

Monday, Deputy Prosecutor David Carman asked Judge Alan Hancock to revoke Bozeman’s bail and hold him in jail until trial. Hancock declined, which means Bozeman returned to electronic home monitoring.