Former Idaho GOP Chair Jonathan Parker is back in jail again and being held without bond after he turned himself in Wednesday night to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office on a contempt of court charge.
Late last month, a judge revoked Parker’s $80,000 bond in his felony stalking case involving his estranged wife after he allegedly violated a no-contact order. He turned himself in for that violation and another unrelated felony involving witness intimidation.
Parker posted $105,000 bonds for those two cases, but no new bond amount was set in the stalking case.
Last week, Parker’s lawyer filed a motion to let him remain free from jail until his next hearing.
Prosecutors objected, saying, “The fact that he has had to post so many bonds simply means that he has committed multiple serious criminal offenses and should not be in the community at this time.”
The judge denied Parker’s request.
The former top Republican now faces two felonies and three misdemeanors in a saga that’s unraveled since his wife, Kelly Parker, filed for divorce from him in March.
Parker was first arrested on the stalking charge in May after Boise Police say they found him peering into windows at his estranged wife’s apartment complex, wearing a wig and masturbating. Parker’s lawyer called the situation a “grand misunderstanding” and that he was there for a costume party and trying to scare a different woman.
Since his initial arrest, police have filed other charges against him, relating to allegedly trespassing at Kelly Parker’s apartment in April.
That same month, a Meridian woman, who had once let Parker take a nap on her couch, said he had made a copy of her house key without her permission and let himself into her home.
He was eventually charged with unlawful entry, which is a misdemeanor. Prosecutors say Parker later called the alleged victim and reportedly told her to recant her statement to police, saying “If you don’t do this, I’ll go to prison.”
He was arrested on the witness intimidation charge in July.
Parker is currently being held without bond at the Ada County Jail.
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