Head, 25, is being held on $50,000 bail at Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai.
The indictment charges that between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2002, Head had sex and sexual contact with his alleged victim without her consent.
First-degree sexual assault is an unclassified felony punishable by eight to 10 years in prison. Second-degree sexual assault is punishable by up to 10 years.
A group of supporters maintaining Head's innocence has organized in town, and produced a flyer that was passed out at the Winter Carnival parade last weekend. In the flyer, the anonymous author or authors solicit support for a legal fund and assert that Head is falsely accused.
The flyer cites a legal defense fund organized by the Refuge Chapel.
"People are too quick to draw conclusions without knowing the facts," said Kenai Assistant District Attorney June Stein.
According to the initial felony complaint, the 21-year-old victim told troopers last December that in September 2002 she saw Head at a gathering and he agreed to take her home. She said she felt sick and had a fever, and alleged that during the drive to her home out East End Road, Head asked her to borrow some money.
Head then asked her to perform sexual acts on him, she alleged to troopers. She refused and he became angry, and began to drive recklessly, she said. She told troopers she became afraid of his driving and feared they would crash because he drove fast on the curvy road. She said she thought if she did not comply with his request he would keep driving recklessly.
She alleged that she asked him to pull over and when they stopped, she complied. She said he then had sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
She said she told him several times that she did not want to have sex with him and tried to push him off, but could not.
Trooper Bryan Barlow obtained an electronic surveillance warrant and recorded a telephone conversation on Feb. 8 between her and Head. In that conversation, troopers allege she asked Head about the September 2002 incident. She asked him why he forced her to have sex with her in the car and if he was sorry. He said several times he was sorry and knew it was wrong to have done it to her. He said he has been attending counseling to help him deal with what he did to her.
He said he was sorry for what he did.
In the flyer distributed at Saturday's parade, the authors wrote, "If ever there were an innocent man in Homer, it is Chris Head." The flyer said Head was "falsely accused on charges he did not commit" and "locked away at the whim of his accuser." Head is "absolutely, positively, beyond a doubt not guilty," it said.
Stein said the alleged victim does not have the power to put someone in jail.
"Neither the victim or the state has the ability to lock anyone away," she said. "Whether someone remains in custody is a decision of the judge."
Alaska State Troopers Sgt. Jim Hibpshman said when troopers receive a report of a crime, they investigate the case further, gather evidence, and if troopers believe there's enough evidence, file a criminal complaint.
"We have what we believe is probable cause to go ahead with the case," said Hibpshman. "To say that we arrested him because a person made a report is not correct," he said, adding, "We don't charge people on anonymous, second- or third-hand reports."
For a felony charge, the complaint goes to the grand jury, which can add, delete or change charges. In Head's case, the initial charges were for one count of first-degree sexual assault. The 18-member grand jury that indicted Head added counts of first-degree and second-degree sexual assault.
The main evidence against Head is the recorded conversation, Hibpshman said. Troopers are required to get a warrant when seeking to record a telephone conversation, and warrants are granted based on a petition asserting probable cause of a crime. Hibpshman said Head was free to deny allegations, refuse to talk further or even hang up. A written transcript of the conversation will be admitted into evidence at Head's trial, he said.
Hibpshman said no forensic evidence was collected because of the gap in time between the dates of the alleged incident and when the victim made her report. He said it's not uncommon for people to report crimes five, 10 or even 30 years later. The report of the crime was well within the statute of limitations for first-degree sexual assault, he said.
Darren Williams, Head's pastor at Refuge Chapel, said he believes Head is innocent of charges of sexual assault. Williams is one of a group of about 30-40 supporters rallying behind Head.
"He has always told us the truth. We've never known him to lie," he said.
Williams said the alleged victim is the mother of Head's twin boys.
"He would do anything to have a relationship to be with her," Williams said.
Court documents show that in July 2003, a petition for a domestic violence protective order was filed against Head by a woman with the same initials as that of Head's alleged victim. The court granted the order and set prohibitions on Head's contact with the petitioner and their children.
Head was allowed limited visitation with the children. He filed for modifications to the visitation order in late 2003 and earlier this year. In the woman's petition, she asserted that Head hit her, shoved her, threatened and harassed her, and followed her.
Hibpshman said that when cases like this come up, it's not uncommon for troopers to hear, "I know that person. He wouldn't do that," he said.
Stein said that under state and federal law, Head is presumed innocent until he admits in court to a crime or is found guilty by a jury.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
She refused to lend him money and Head became angry, she told troopers.
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