The chief criminal deputy prosecutor for Island County plans to retry a 35-year-old Oak Harbor man accused of raping a 4-year-old boy while the child was in daycare.

The proceedings against Bryon Koeller ended in a mistrial last week after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Prosecutors charged him last summer with the first-degree rape of a child.

Koeller’s attorney, Tom Pacher of Coupeville, said he was very pleased that the jury put a lot of work into their deliberations, which was obvious from the mountain of notes.

“I’ve rarely seen a jury going into that kind of analysis,” he said. “They really, really put a lot of effort into it.”

But in the end, the jury hung by a vote that Pacher described as “not lopsided.”

Colleen Kenimond, the chief criminal deputy, said the trial was unique in that the young victim testified via closed circuit TV. It was the first time this was allowed in county history. The purpose, she said, was to protect the victim while still allowing the defense to question him.

“It allowed the victim an opportunity to be able to tell the story without completely clamming up in front of the defendant,” she said.

Nevertheless, Kenimond said the child had some difficulty explaining what allegedly happened to him.

According to a report by Detective Teri Gardner with the Oak Harbor Police, the child reported that Koeller molested him a number of times while he was at a daycare that Koeller’s wife ran out of their Oak Harbor home.

Pacher said it was a very informal child-care arrangement and he doubts the family will take in other children in the future.

Koeller denied any appropriate contact with the boy, Gardner wrote.

In another unique aspect of the trial, a girl who claimed Koeller sexually assaulted her years ago was allowed to testify against him, even though Koeller was never charged with that alleged crime.

If convicted of the charge, Koeller would face from seven years and nine months to 10 years and three months in prison under the standard sentencing range.

Kenimond said there will be a hearing next week to set a new trial date.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.