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Plea Bargain Deal Reported in Deborah Fourzan Case
posted on by Egan Loo
The Oklahoman newspaper reports that the man charged with soliciting sexual conduct from a 14-year-old girl is discussing a plea bargain. 41-year-old James Joseph Reimer is accused of enticing Deborah Kalai Fourzan on a six-week trip from their hometown of Tecumseh, Oklahoma to Washington state, reportedly to visit anime conventions and locations in the Twilight novels.
According to Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon, Reimer waived the right to a preliminary hearing on Monday to keep the option of negotiations open. Fourzan would have had to testify if a preliminary hearing had occurred, and the district attorney's office has a policy of ending negotiations if the victim testifies. Fourzan's family members and law enforcement officials told The Oklahoman that Reimer has agreed to a 15-year prison sentence, but Smothermon said he cannot comment on ongoing negotiations.
Fourzan's mother, Crystal VanBuskirk, told Oklahoma's KSBI-TV station that Reimer "found out something she was interested in and used that. It was the anime, the Japanese animation, and that's how he got to her, and I believe that wholeheartedly." Tecumseh police Detective J.R. Kidney told The Oklahoman that Reimer and Fourzan were visiting the locations in the Twilight vampire novel series by American author Stephenie Meyer. (The novels are primarily set in Washington state.)
The two were reported missing on February 2, and the search led to a profile on the America's Most Wanted television program in March. Reimer was arrested on March 14 after police stopped their car for routine traffic violations in Montesano in southwest Washington.
