Convicted child molester denied parole after 25 years behind bars

A Lewiston man who has spent 25 years in prison for molesting a child was denied parole Tuesday and will spend at least five more years incarcerated.

John D. Mebane, 57, was convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child younger than 16 in July 1993. Mebane molested a 4-year-old boy whose mother he had befriended while working at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center.

Sandy Jones, Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole executive director, said a three-person panel rejected Mebane's request to be released on parole. His next parole hearing will be in January 2023, when a full commission of seven people will hear his case, Jones said.

"Our full commission will assemble basically to make sure there isn't the concern of a missed decision (this time)," Jones said.

Mebane made the victim perform sex acts on him and groped the boy at least 10 times over a period of several months in 1993, according to court records.

Mebane previously had been convicted of molesting three young boys in Arizona and spent three years in prison in the late 1980s.

The boy told a Lewiston police investigator at the time that Mebane made him keep a "secret" about the abuse. In an interview with investigators, Mebane admitted to molesting the boy. Mebane said he gave gifts to the child and often treated him to trips to local parks in exchange for sexual favors.

At Mebane's sentencing, 2nd District Judge Ronald Schilling told Mebane he presented a clear danger to minors, according to Lewiston Tribune archives.

"I know of no other way that I've seen in this profession of providing for a very good chance of ruining a child's life than to sexually abuse that child," Schilling said during the hearing.

Schilling said Mebane had shown a pattern of behavior in gaining the trust of young boys and then molesting them. He said Mebane showed "meager" chance of rehabilitation and sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison.

---

Holm may be contacted at tholm@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2275. Follow him on Twitter @TomHolm4.