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Judge Revokes Former Idaho GOP Chairman Jonathan Parker's Bail In Stalking Case

James Dawson
/
Boise State Public Radio
Former Idaho Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Parker was arrested last month in an Ada County Courtroom on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.

A judge is revoking former Idaho GOP chairman Jonathan Parker’s bail after he allegedly violated a no contact order with his estranged wife earlier this month.

4th District Magistrate David Manweiler revoked Parker’s $80,000 bond from an earlier felony stalking charge, according to a recording of a hearing held Wednesday morning. Manweiler said no bond would be set until an arraignment hearing, a date for which was not immediately available.

This came after Parker was charged with felony stalking in Mayafter police say they found him hiding in the bushes outside his wife’s apartment complex, dressed in a wig and masturbating.

Court records say the no contact violation happened when Parker sent a text message to his estranged wife, Kelly Parker, on July 10, telling her about alleged medical issues and asking for a picture of their daughter.

Kelly Parker filed for divorce from him in March, shortly after he stepped down as Idaho Republican Party Chairman. 

After the stalking charge, Parker’s attorney, former Idaho Attorney General David Leroy, called the situation a “grand misunderstanding.” Leroy said Parker was attending a costume party at the complex and was peeking through windows to scare a different woman.

Since then, Parker has racked up three misdemeanor charges – all allegedly occurring prior to the stalking charge.

He was arrested during a court hearing in June after police say he trespassed near his wife’s home in April.

He was also charged with unlawful entry at a different woman’s home in Meridian that same month. A motion for a no contact order for the woman involved in that case will be decided next week.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Parker did not appear in Ada County Jail’s arrest records.

He served as Idaho’s GOP chairman from 2017 until February this year.

In a letter explaining his departure, he wrote, “Serving as your Chairman, while maintaining a full-time job and being a fully engaged Father has been harder than I imagined, so much so that I have reluctantly decided that I should no longer continue to serve as Chairman of the Idaho Republican Party so that I can focus on the priorities I place above all others.”

Follow James Dawson on Twitter @RadioDawson for more local news.

Copyright 2019 Boise State Public Radio

I cover politics and a bit of everything else for Boise State Public Radio. Outside of public meetings, you can find me fly fishing, making cool things out of leather or watching the Seattle Mariners' latest rebuilding season.

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