BOISE -- Several posts circulating on social media are calling for the alleged locker room rape in Dietrich, Idaho, to be investigated and charged as a hate crime.
The same is being said about another recent crime in Idaho - the deadly beating of a homosexual man at Lake Lowell.
KTVB found out what it takes to prosecute a hate crime. We talked to a state legislator and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho to get answers.
U.S Attorney Wendy Olson says the short answer to that is: it all depends. For her office to prosecute a hate crime, it's contingent upon the state's actions and the cold, hard facts of that particular case.
At the federal level in Idaho, Olson says the FBI is the investigating agency and the U.S. Attorney's office is the prosecuting entity. However, because the FBI is investigating a case does not always necessarily mean that the U.S. Attorney's office will prosecute.
The federal government has about 4 or 5 different statutes they look at to determine whether a crime was motivated by hatred of a victim's protected status. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 is the broadest when it comes to those statuses.
The state of Idaho has one hate crime statute: malicious harassment.
"It includes a number of categories. It does not include sexual orientation," Rep. John Gannon (D) of Boise told KTVB.
Rep. Gannon says it's crucial that the Idaho Legislature broaden that law - as well as civil laws - to include sexual orientation.
"That sends a message that the state as a whole isn't tolerant of discrimination," he added.
A hate crime charge is seen as an enhanced penalty in addition to any charges already filed against a suspect, for instance, charges of assault or murder. Olson says if something looks like it might be a hate crime, they will oftentimes see what happens at the state level before making a final decision about whether or not to move forward with prosecution.
While the Idaho U.S. Attorney's Office is fully informed on the Dietrich School incident, they are not actively involved. However, Olson says they are currently working with the FBI in another high-profile case in Idaho.
"We are early on, very early on in our process," she said.
49-year-old Steven Nelson passed away after being brutally beaten and robbed - the victim of an alleged conspiracy ring targeting people soliciting sex online. Olson says they're determining whether they can charge those suspects with a hate crime; the motivation of the crime being the fact that Nelson is gay.
"It is sometimes, I understand, very hard for the public, for families to wait and to not know what's going on for a while. But our goal is to make sure we get the job done right as well," Olson added.
Federal cases take longer to investigate and charge than state cases, and the U.S. Attorney says they never like to put deadlines on anything because they could miss something important.
