Thomas v. Sheriff, Clark County

OPINION

By the Court,

Batjer, J.:

Appellant, after a preliminary hearing, was ordered to stand trial on a felony charge of statutory rape. He was denied pretrial habeas relief in the district court and appeals.

His only claim of error is that the state did not offer competent proof to establish his age. In a prosecution for statutory rape, proof of age of the accused is necessary to determine the grade of the offense and the penalty to be inflicted.

Detective John Silbaugh, of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, testified that during his investigation of an unrelated crime that appellant stated…