A change of plea hearing for Stephen Boyle set for Nov. 9 has been continued to 3:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Homer Courthouse. Boyle had been scheduled to enter a plea, but his lawyer, Andy Pevehouse, said they had just that day received a plea agreement and offer from the state.
Boyle, 43, was charged in June with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Boyle was the deputy fire chief for Kachemak Emergency Services but no longer works for KES.
Homer Police said on May 31 they received a complaint from a woman in her 20s that over a period of six years and when she was between the ages of 9 and 15 she had been sexually assaulted by Boyle. The woman now lives in Florida, but grew up in Homer.
Homer Police Chief Mark Robl said the woman contacted a county sheriff in Florida and that office contacted Homer Police.
After police arrested Boyle on June 16, Judge Margaret Murphy later set conditions of bail including a third-party custodian, a $100,000 unsecured performance bond and a $5,000 appearance bond. Murphy entered a plea of not guilty for Boyle pending a grand jury indictment. The grand jury has not yet delivered an indictment for Boyle, but in agreement with Boyle and his lawyer, court speedy trial rules and rules requiring an indictment for a felony have been suspended. Boyle previously stayed with third-party custodians at an East End Road farm, but more recently has been living in his downtown Homer home with his sister as third-party custodian. No children have been staying in the home.
Pevehouse told Murphy that Boyle’s sister planned to leave soon, and that when she left Boyle would report to the Homer Jail rather than seek another third-party custodian. As of Tuesday afternoon, according to an vinelink.com, an online service tracking prisoners, Boyle is not yet in state custody. Any jail time served before sentencing or trial would count toward whatever sentence Boyle received if the plea agreement specifies imprisonment.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
