"Local police felt they had a good sexual-abuse case against Bill Allen, the former president of Veco already convicted on corruption charges. So did a thorough federal prosecutor who specialized in child exploitation and obscenity cases. So did an alleged victim's attorney, a former prosecutor.
Investigators and prosecutors said they had a strong, carefully built case against Allen under the federal Mann Act, which prohibits taking a person across state lines for prostitution, and imposes tougher penalties if that person is a minor, as alleged in this case. But the Department of Justice has decided not to prosecute.
No grand jury. No indictment. No trial.
Why?
Federal officials won't say.
Allen made a deal with federal prosecutors in return for testimony in the Alaska political corruption case that blew open in 2006 with raids on lawmakers' offices. The investigation eventually resulted in the convictions of four lawmakers, some lobbyists and a former governor's chief of staff and an election-season conviction -- later thrown out -- of the late Sen. Ted Stevens.
A deal involving corruption charges and the financial future of Allen's family is one thing. But Alaskans want no part of a deal that would let Allen ride on charges of having sex with minors for the sake of testimony about bribes and fraud in Juneau. We don't know if there was or is such a deal. But the strength of the case combined with the feds' silence in refusing to pursue it raises the question of such a deal. And it's the kind of deal that shouldn't be on the table."
Get the Story:Our view: Where's the justice? (The Anchorage Daily News 8/25) Related Stories:
DOJ won't prosecute Alaska figure for sexual abuse of Native girl (8/23)