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News / Northwest

OR rape charge dismissed against 1 WA soldier

The Columbian
Published: September 20, 2011, 5:00pm

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Prosecutors in Portland have dismissed rape and sex abuse charges against one of two Washington state-based soldiers accused in an alleged attack on two teenage girls in a hotel room.

The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/pqJlor) that charges were dismissed Monday against 22-year-old Sgt. Timothy J. Hartbeck of Manchester, Iowa.

Multnomah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Norm Frink says “based on the evidence as we know it now, there’s not information he committed a crime.”

Fellow soldier Stephan James Bardos of Morrisville, Pa., remains in custody, facing allegations of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. The 27-year-old is due back in court Thursday.

Both soldiers are stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Police spokesman Lt. Robert King said earlier the 15-year-old and 17-year-old girls told police they had been sexually assaulted Sept. 4 “by numerous men in the hotel room.”

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com

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