Scot held in US jail ahead of hearing
Prosecutors demand rape accused is denied bail
A MAN who went on the run in America while awaiting trial over rape charges in Scotland should be denied bail, according to US authorities.
Prosecutors said releasing Kim Avis would ‘invite the possibility of embarrassing the United States in the conduct of its foreign affairs’ because he would be likely to abscond again.
They branded Avis a ‘significant flight risk and a danger to the community’ ahead of a hearing in Denver, Colorado, last night.
The 55-year-old, who had been living in Inverness, was due to appear at the High Court in Edinburgh in March, accused of rape and sexual assault. He was on the run in the US for five months after travelling there ahead of his trial.
Police said he faked his own death at a California beach in February, before using disguises to evade detection as he travelled east.
Avis is accused of 25 offences, including five rapes, three sexual assaults and indecent behaviour towards a girl aged between 12 and 16. US marshals tracked him down to a motel in Colorado, 1,300 miles from where he disappeared. He made a brief appearance at the US District Court in Denver last night. However the extradition hearing to determine if he should be granted bail was delayed until August 12 at the request of the defence.
In the filing, Assistant US Attorney Aaron Teitelbaum says ‘the court should detain Avis without bond’, adding that he is ‘a significant flight risk and a danger to the community’.
It adds: ‘A fugitive charged with crimes in another country is already by definition in flight or deliberately absent from that jurisdiction, and the fact that the fugitive has evaded prosecution in a foreign country is indicative of his risk of flight in the United States.
‘According to Scottish authorities, Avis is known to have travelled to the United States on or about February 16, 2019, failing to appear at the beginning of his trial scheduled for March 11, 2019. Following his failure to appear, the Edinburgh High Court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Avis successfully remained a fugitive at large until his arrest on July 26, 2019.’
The filing says Avis has been accused of a ‘host of sexual assault and other violent offences against
‘A danger to the community’
four females over two decades’. Mr Teitelbaum said the alleged offences were ‘repeated, and egregious and sexual’ and if convicted Avis could be jailed for life.
The filing says ‘allowance of bail in any amount would not guarantee Avis’ presence in court’.
Extradition defendants can be released if there are special circumstances – but the prosecutors said there were none in this case.
If the court decides there are such circumstances, Mr Teitelbaum requested that he be notified ‘in order to protect the ability of the United States to meet its treaty obligations to the Government of the United Kingdom’.