Sexual abuse of minor charges filed

September 19, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

PALMER - A man indicted on 17 counts of sexual abuse of a minor and unlawful exploitation of a minor was indicted again on the same charges or 17 new charges.

Steven M. Knights, 48, who has been in jail since he was originally indicted in May, was indicted again on 17 charges last week. But when Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler asked, no one in court could say whether all or some of the charges were new.

In addition, Verne Rupright, Knights' defense attorney, said he had no response to four motions he filed, nor did he have all the evidence discovered by the state. Rupright entered pleas of not guilty to all charges and asked whether the state presented any new evidence to the grand jury.

&#8220Somebody should be able to inform Mr. Rupright whether these are new charges,” Judge Cutler said.

Curt Martin, assistant district attorney, said he thought the charges were new, but he didn't have any particulars on whether the state brought new evidence to the grand jury. Martin said he was filling in for another attorney and didn't have any particulars on the case. But his file showed 269 pages of evidence.

&#8220You're not even close to finished,” Rupright said. &#8220And ask for answers to my written motions.”

Martin said he would pass the messages on, and Judge Cutler ordered the state to reply to the defense motions in 10 days.

According to Alaska statute, Rule 45, the state has 120 days after serving defendants with charging documents to bring them to trial. Re-indicting a defendant resets the clock.

Knights was scheduled for a trial call Sept. 25, and Judge Cutler asked Rupright whether he would be ready for trial by next week.

Rupright said he would need at least 90 days, if the charges are new.

According to the indictments, Roman Kalytiak, district attorney, brought evidence to the grand jury on May 3, with two law enforcement officers and one victim as witnesses. The grand jury handed up six counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, six counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, three counts of unlawful exploitation of a minor, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The indictment charges were for sexual abuse in 2004 through 2006.

Rachel Gernat, assistant district attorney, presented evidence and one law enforcement officer and one victim as witnesses to a grand jury Thursday. The grand jury handed up 12 indictments identical to the first 12 in May, but added five separate first-degree sexual abuse of a minor charges and included allegations dating from 2003. Last week's indictment didn't include any unlawful exploitation of a minor charges or any charges of possessing or distributing pornography.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.