Trial begins for Wasilla man

PALMER — Jury selection began Monday in a trial for a Wasilla man facing almost 50 charges of child rape.

Emmanuel Cancel, 34, of Wasilla, faces 48 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, in addition to a single count of third-degree drug misconduct and two counts of giving a controlled substance to a minor, court documents show.

Offense dates for the allegations range from May 1998 to December 2007, according to court documents. Of the charges, 42 are for first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Five are for second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and one is for third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

Cancel was charged with about 41 counts in July 2011, court documents show. A grand jury dismissed two of the counts, according to court records.

But more counts were added after additional victims came forward in the case, according to a July 2, 2011, Frontiersman article about the indictment

The victims in the case, 15, 20 and 7 at the time of Cancel’s indictment, and were familiar to Cancel, according to Alaska State Troopers, who originally investigated the case. Investigating authorities initially were aware of the 15-year-old victim, but other victims stepped forward after a public appeal on the part of troopers.

The majority of charges were dismissed on a motion by Cancel’s in June 2013. However, prosecutors refilled the charges the next day.

The trial was scheduled to continue Tuesday morning.

The charges are Cancel’s first felony offenses. He has numerous minor offenses and traffic citations stretching back to 1991, as well as a few civil cases involving domestic violence restraining orders, court documents show.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.