POCATELLO — A 19-year-old local man was recently charged with four counts of statutory rape for engaging in sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old girl, police said.

Taisen Joe Lopez-Scharer, of Pocatello, was arrested and charged with the four counts of statutory rape on Tuesday following an incident in which Lopez-Scharer attempted to force entry into the home of the alleged victim, according to a police report the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

The victim’s mother contacted police around 3:20 p.m. Tuesday to report that Lopez-Scharer tried to kick in their front door and force entry into the home, the report says.

The mother told officers that Lopez-Scharer was trying to force entry into the home to see the alleged victim, who is pregnant and experiencing complications, police said.

The mother told investigators that Lopez-Scharer turned 19 in January at a time when her daughter was age 16 and that the date of conception was sometime around July 11 or July 12, the report says.

Lopez-Scharer was located at a mobile home on Quinn Road and taken to the Pocatello Police Department for questioning around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.

During the interview, Lopez-Scharer admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with the alleged victim four times between July 11 and the end of July, the report says. Lopez-Scharer also told officers that he knew that he was three years older than the alleged victim, police said.

Lopez-Scharer was subsequently charged, arrested and booked inside the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

He appeared in front of 6th District Magistrate Judge David Hooste for an arraignment hearing on Wednesday, during which his bond was set at $25,000.

He is due back in court on Oct. 2 for a preliminary hearing that will involve local prosecutors attempting to prove there is enough evidence against him to elevate the case from the magistrate to district court level for trial.

Each of the four felony counts of statutory rape that Lopez-Scharer faces carry a maximum penalty of up to life in prison if he is convicted.