Todd Allen Agar

ALPENA — An Ossineke man claimed the court should ignore the testimony of three women who claim he sexually assaulted them when they were children.

Todd Allen Agar, 49, faces multiple charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from alleged incidents between 1998 and 2005. In December, witness testimony accused Agar of plying two 14-year-old girls with alcohol and coercing them into having sex with him. A third woman testified Agar touched her intimately beginning when she was 6 or 7, eventually raping her when she was 11.

The News does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

Agar is currently in prison for a parole violation in an unrelated drug case.

In a continuation of Agar’s preliminary examination in 88th District Court on Thursday, Agar’s attorney, Justin Wilson, questioned the validity of the women’s testimony, noting several inconsistencies in statements to police when they were children.

A preliminary exam is held to determine if there’s enough evidence to proceed to trial.

The prosecution’s contention that the alleged sexual acts were committed during a felony because Agar had provided alcohol to minors should be inadmissable, the defense attorney argued, because witnesses hadn’t established definitively that the alcohol had been offered at the time of the sexual acts.

Wilson also argued that the emotional damage reported by one of the women couldn’t be legally attributed to the alleged rape by Agar, because the woman had, according to police records, been sexually assaulted by someone else prior to her contact with Agar. There is no way to show the more recent alleged incident had been the specific cause of her distress, Wilson said.

Alpena County Prosecutor Ed Black, in his rebuttal, told the judge the alcohol Agar allegedly brought repeatedly to the girls was a clear indicator of his intentions.

“What other reason would a 34-, 35-year-old man have for hanging out with three girls under the age of 16,” Black said, “except to entice or solicit them for sexual purposes?”

The hearing will continue as Judge Thomas LaCross gave the defense two weeks to properly file three motions Agar drafted in prison, after which he will determine if Agar’s case will proceed to Circuit Court for trial.

This is the second time going through the exam process for Agar, who was bound over on almost the same charges a year ago.

That case was dismissed in October after the court determined his right to a speedy trial had been violated. He was instantly charged again by the Prosecutor’s Office, with the addition of a third victim to the original charges.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.