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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Pleads not guilty; March 10 hearing set
Michael Finch appears in Lincoln County Superior Court on Tuesday, Jan. 7, where he was arraigned and entered not guilty pleas to multiple sexual assault charges.
DAVENPORT - A local man entered not guilty pleas to multiple felony charges, including indecent liberties and second-degree rape, both alleging forcible compulsion, sexual misconduct with a minor second-degree, and child molestation, third-degree in Lincoln County Superior Court Tuesday.
Michael Finch, 64, of Davenport, was arraigned in Lincoln County Superior Court on Tuesday, Jan. 7, and entered not guilty pleas to all charges.
He is represented by attorney Beavan Maxey. Finch was ordered to maintain standard release conditions, and the court noted there was no objection to the protection orders.
His next court date is scheduled for Monday, March 10.
Finch posted a $2,500 cash and commercial bail bond and was released. The court ordered him to have no contact with the alleged victims.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lincoln County dispatch received a report of a sexual assault at a residence on Phillips Lane East. Records state Detective Scelza with the Oak Harbor Police Department contacted Lincoln County dispatch to report the allegation, which allegedly occurred at the same residence on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The alleged victim, now 19, was identified in court documents as Finch's grandchild.
Court records show a recorded interview was later conducted in which the teenager disclosed three separate incidents. Two were reported to have occurred in 2025, while a third allegedly occurred when the victim was 15 years old.
If convicted, Finch faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $50,000 fine for indecent liberties by forcible compulsion and second-degree rape, both class A felonies. A conviction for second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, a gross misdemeanor, carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. A conviction for third-degree child molestation carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Olivia Harnack is the award-winning managing editor/photographer/videographer/columnist at the Lincoln County Record-Times, with offices in both Davenport and Odessa, Wash. She is a University of Idaho graduate and a U.S. Army National Guardsman.
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