Yaak bar owner awaits extradition on sex charges

A Yaak bar owner and minister who was

indicted by a grand jury in Maryland on child sexual abuse charges

awaits transfer from Libby after waiving his rights to a formal

extradition process during a hearing in district court last

week.

A grand jury in Cecil County, Md.,

indicted 82-year-old Donald Belcher in November of allegedly

molesting a 15-year-old girl in June 2006 and an 8-year-old girl in

September 2010.

Belcher was arrested in Yaak and posted

$250,000 bond after his initial appearance Dec. 22 in justice

court. He did not waive the extradition process until last week’s

hearing in district court, in which he was taken into custody until

he can be transported and tried in Maryland.

Belcher has owned the Dirty Shame

Saloon since 2006 and was minister of Holy Trinity Church in Troy

and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Libby from 1996-2001. He had

owned the nearby Yaak River Lodge from 1992 to 2002 before moving

to Maryland. Belcher has an address in both North East, Md., and

Yaak.