A sex assault case against William Gary “Bill” Conner has been dismissed without prejudice, according to District Attorney Will Furse.
Conner’s trial had been set for Oct. 25 in Montezuma District Court after he pleaded not guilty in March to charges of sex assault with a minor.
According to an October 2015 arrest warrant, Conner, 56, had been charged with sexual assault on a child, a class 4 felony, sexual assault on a child as part of a pattern of abuse, a class 3 felony, and sexual assault on a child while in a position of trust, a class 3 felony.
In jurisprudence, when a case is dismissed “without prejudice,” prosecutors can refile it at a later date. The court dismissed a vehicular homicide case “without prejudice” in August because prosecutors wanted to investigate the case further, according to a court order.
Furse said in an email Tuesday the Conner case remains an active investigation. He declined to comment further on the case or the reasons for dismissal. According to the District Court Clerk’s office, the case has been sealed.
The 2015 warrant alleges Conner molested two underage relatives. The arrest warrant details an August 2014 interview between a social worker and one alleged victim, who is now 18. That individual said in the interview that Conner molested her multiple times in a pasture on family property starting when she was 11 years old, according to the arrest warrant.
A second relative, now 22, said in an August 2014 interview with a social worker that Conner began molesting her when she was 14 years old, according to the warrant. Investigators said they found a journal in which the alleged victim said she wished she could have gone back to when she was 14 to “tell Bill no” and wait until she was 18, the warrant says.
Conner voluntarily went to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office in April 2015 for an interview, according to the warrant. During that interview, he denied ever having sexual relations with either alleged victim, the warrant states. Conner would not volunteer to take a polygraph exam during that interview, the warrant states.
Conner served as deputy, lieutenant and undersheriff in the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office between 1986 and 2006, employment records show. He ran for sheriff in 2006, losing to Gerald Wallace.