Christopher Panagiotou-Scigliano, the 38-year-old Haines man who was apprehended last week and who is wanted in Idaho on four sex crime charges, is now being investigated by local police for similar crimes in Haines.
Bonner County Idaho police charged the man with two counts of rape and two counts of sexual battery on a minor between the ages of 16-17 years old. Idaho authorities issued the warrant on Sept. 1 according to the man’s public defender at a bail hearing Tuesday. The man voluntarily turned himself in to local law enforcement at the Chilkat Lake landing.
Bonner County prosecuting attorney Louis Marshall said former victims visited the man in Haines. “Apparently, some of the victims from here visited him up in Alaska and that is the basis for the investigation in (Haines).”
At Tuesday’s bail hearing, assistant district attorney Dara Gibson asked for bail to be set at $200,000 citing a concern over community safety because police suspect there are victims in Haines. The man moved to Haines from Idaho in 2015 and lived at Chilkat Lake.
Public defender Dylan Krueger said it would be extraordinary to hold him on such a bail for “allegations the state has not bothered to charge.” The public defender sought electronic location monitoring and asked that Benjamin Herndon serve as a third-party custodian appointed by the court. He cited Panagiotou-Scigliano’s close ties to the Covenant Life Center where he attends church and eats meals.
Gibson and an Idaho detective said that Herndon watched the abuse and would be called as a witness, of which there were more pending. More charges are pending including Alaska ones in which Herndon was a witness.
The judge did not approve a third-party custodian and Scigliano will be released on the conditions of a $100,000 cash appearance bond. Scigliano is being held in Lemon Creek Correctional Facility.
Haines Police searched the man’s house at Chilkat Lake. Scott encouraged potential victims to come forward.
“What I’d want people to know is if you’ve been victimized by this individual or an individual who’s been affiliated with him in some way shape or form, that you can come forward and have a conversation with the police department,” Scott said.