A Torrance Superior Court Oct. 23 ruled to continue the preliminary hearing of a Colorado couple facing four charges that include offering a bribe to and criminally threatening a woman who is a witness in a case involving their son.

The couple is accused of allegedly threatening the safety and offering a cash bribe to a woman who had filed charges against their son, accusing him of rape.

On Oct. 1, Hermosa Beach Police arrested and charged a Colorado couple with one count each of conspiracy to dissuade a witness, conspiracy to dissuade a witness by force, offering to bribe and criminal threats.

According to Hermosa Beach Press Information Officer Sgt. Paul Wolcott, James, 67, and Gail Delaney, 64, of Denver, Colo., arrived at the woman’s house, whose identity remains anonymous since she is an alleged rape victim, and handed her the first in a series of three letters Sept. 23.

According to reports, a woman who was later identified as Gail Delaney showed up at the door of his son’s accuser and handed her the first letter. Each letter became increasingly threatening and aggressive in tone toward the victim, her son and family. The letter also offered a cash bribe to the woman if she dropped the case.

The woman called a neighbor for assistance, and Delaney left and climbed into a car being driven by a man later identified as James Delaney. The neighbor obtained the number of the Colorado license plate from the car as it fled the scene.

Officers arrested the couple at the Prado Recreation Area, a campsite in San Bernardino County, after warrants were issued Sept. 26.

The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges at an Oct. 2 arraignment and bail has been set at $5 million.

Aran Delaney, 27, a Hermosa Beach resident, is charged with one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object, and forcible rape and sodomy by use of force, after he allegedly attacked the woman on a Hermosa Beach walk street in June. The woman is the same individual allegedly approached by his parents.

Delaney recently pleaded not guilty to the charges in Torrance Superior Court during his arraignment and is out on $250,000 bail until his Oct. 15 preliminary hearing.

Delaney is a former fourth-grade teacher at American Martyrs School in Manhattan Beach.

Aside from charges sexual in nature, prosecutors also filed allegations Delaney allegedly caused great bodily harm to his 32-year-old victim, who suffered a broken collarbone and a concussion. Police said that Delaney then allegedly attacked her and sexually assaulted her until she blacked out.

According to police, the crime occurred between the hours of 12:30 and 1 a.m. June 29 on the 26th Street walk street. Delaney reportedly met the woman at the North End Bar and Grill in the 2600 block of Hermosa Avenue.

Both the victim’s friends and Delaney’s friends identified him as the suspect, and the woman later picked him out of a photo lineup.

Police issued a warrant for Delaney’s arrest and he turned himself in at the city’s police station July 3.