Kootenai County reopens 2020 sexual assault case after Colorado arrest

A 2020 sexual assault report in Coeur d’Alene has been reopened after detectives learned that Daniel Hansen, the former operator of a local tattoo studio, was arrested in Mesa County, Colorado, on new sexual assault charges. The review now spans allegations in Kootenai County and Colorado, and investigators say there may be additional victims connected to Hansen between October 2020 and May 2026.

Hansen is 63 and was known in the local tattoo community as Daemon Cusco and, before that, Popeye. Coeur d’Alene police and the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office are reexamining the older local complaint because it previously stalled when investigators could not substantiate the allegation. The new Colorado arrest prompted detectives to reconsider evidence and possible connections that were not clear four years ago.

Colorado reporting says Hansen was wanted on 31 counts of sexual assault on a child in Mesa County. A Mesa County report says the case began with a Jan. 23, 2023, report of a child sexual assault in Clifton, and investigators later identified four child victims. An arrest warrant was issued April 27, 2026, with a $500,000 cash bond. Another report says Hansen had lived in Mesa County intermittently between 1981 and 2023 while working as a tattoo artist.

The Coeur d’Alene case now carries a wider public-safety concern because detectives believe other victims may not yet have come forward. That is why the public is being urged to contact Detective Knisley at 208-666-5739 or aknisley@cdaid.org if they have information tied to Hansen or the tattoo studio.

The reopening also raises accountability questions for people who may have had contact with Hansen in Coeur d’Alene and did not report concerns at the time. Law enforcement has not made any finding of guilt in the local case, but the new arrest in Colorado has shifted the matter from a previously unsubstantiated complaint to an active review with potential links across state lines.

The Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which handles many criminal proceedings in district and magistrate court, will be part of determining whether the evidence now supports charges in Idaho. For Kootenai County, the case is no longer only about a complaint from 2020. It is now about whether a reported local assault fits into a broader pattern that investigators are still trying to map.