Ammon man charged with sexually abusing teen boy

An Ammon man has been charged with felony counts for a report he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy.

Derick Peterson, 41, was charged June 2 with two counts of sexual battery of a child ages 16 to 17 committed by lewd or lascivious acts.

Peterson had his initial appearance June 2 and had bond set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Court records show a Shelley Police officer was patrolling the area of Anderson Street and found a truck parked near a dental office in Shelley with its windows fogged up. The officer reported seeing two people moving in the backseat of a truck. A man, later identified as Peterson, exited the truck and spoke to the officer. He told the officer the 16-year-old boy in the truck was his son and that they were just talking. Peterson told the officer the boy is 18 years old.

The victim told the officer Peterson is his father. The officer told the boy he did not believe him. The victim, who is unrelated to Peterson, then told the officer that he was not Peterson's son but he did not want to get either one of them into trouble. The boy told the officer he met with Peterson and the two were touching each other inappropriately. The boy said the contact was consensual.

Peterson then told the officer he touched the boy inappropriately. The two had met with the intention to perform sex acts on each other, court records show. The record does not detail how Peterson met the boy.

Peterson maintained that he thought the boy was 18. He told the officer he had met up with the victim once before and sexually abused the boy sometime between May 21 and May 27.

Sexual battery of a child between the ages of 16 and 17 is punishable by up to life in prison.