A grand jury has indicted 32-year-old Raymond “Jonah” Negovanna for sexually abusing five children from Anchorage and Wainwright at least as far back as January of 2006. Additionally, the investigation revealed he likely had up to 11 victims between the two locations.
The Anchorage Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit (CACU) first began investigating Negovanna in May after the Office of Children’s Services contacted them. They reported that a 12-year-old stated Negovanna had touched her inappropriately and sexually assaulted her.
In an interview with Alaska Cares in Anchorage, she stated the abuse began when she was 9, CACU detective Kristi Mercer wrote in her affidavit. Mercer reported the victim also stated she had witnessed him do the same to another child, now 10, including taking a photograph of that child in her underwear. That child confirmed the 12-year-old’s report in a separate interview. She said the abuse against her began when she was 8 years old, and also included watching the abuse enacted on the first child, according to Mercer.
During the course of the investigation, additional victims came forward and shared similar stories of abuse at the hands of Negovanna. The alleged crimes included Negovanna touching the victims and sexually assaulting them in various ways, and showing one child pictures of naked people on his phone, Mercer outlined in her affidavit.
At the grand jury hearing, seven of Negovanna’s alleged victims were asked to testify, as well as a one of two civilian adults who were instrumental in the investigation by recording a confrontation with Negovanna about the accusations.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Bergt said the case spanned two jurisdictions, requiring the cooperation of multiple agencies, including the North Slope Borough Police Department. It also meant travel for some of the victims from Wainwright, which he said, in a case like this, would mean not having to testify more than once. He noted some of the victims are “quite young” — one of the victims who testified was 6 years old.
Negovanna was initially charged with nine counts of first- and second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and first-degree harassment, but the grand jury saw fit to increase the harassment charges to first-degree sexual abuse of minor, according to online court records. However, Bergt said Negovanna was only indicted for five of the 11 identified victims.
“What’s presented to the grand jury doesn’t necessarily sustain all the charges that we think are gonna be there,” Bergt explained. “There were more children that were interviewed, but ultimately the evidence was only there for the nine counts and the five victims, as far as the grand jury is concerned.”
He said at this point, no additional felony charges related to the 11 victims are being considered.
Mercer noted in her affidavit that two of the victims, now adults, stated the abuse they allegedly suffered occurred when they were between the ages of 10 and 12; one of them waited a decade to report it, according to the charging documents.
“Some of them are afraid, some of them are embarrassed, and it takes sometimes the first one to come forward before the other kids kinda say, ‘well I’m gonna do that too, or now it’s ok,'” Bergt said, adding that sometimes victims won’t come forward until a suspect is in custody. “As a parent, if you notice something different with your child, it always pays to have that conversation and make sure they know the difference between a good touch and a bad touch, but when that takes place… is different for everybody.”
There is no statute of limitations for reporting the sexual abuse of a minor in Alaska, as it is a felony, according to Bergt. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual abuse, help can be found by calling your local law enforcement agency, as well as the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA) website.
Negovanna has been in custody since Oct. 19, held under a bail of $100,000 cash or corporate with the requirement of a third-party custodian. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison.
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