More charges added in Talent, Ore, sex offender case
The man found hiding in the girls locker room at Talent Middle School in June took photos of nine students while he was there, according to a release from the Talent Police Department.
Curtis Bradley Stevenson, 41, who has been held in the Jackson County Jail since his June 3 arrest, now faces nine additional charges of attempting to use a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, police said. His charges already included two counts of burglary, two counts of failure to register as a sex offender, identity theft and computer crime.
Police found photos of nine female students, who were clothed, on cell phones seized from Stevenson. The majority of the students were identified and their parents contacted, according to the release.
A PE teacher at Talent Middle School discovered Stevenson in the girls locker room; surveillance footage later showed that he had been let in through a side door by a student, and he had remained in the locker room for over an hour, said Principal Aaron Santi in June.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which assisted Talent police with its investigation, also released information about additional charges. Stevenson, according to public information officer Sgt. Julie Denney, was already on the Jackson County Sheriff's Office's radar due to an ongoing investigation into the contents of electronics that detectives seized from his former residence about a year prior to the Talent Middle School incident.
The sheriff's office said today it charged Stevenson with 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse. Those charges stem from its own investigation that began May 2018.
In that separate case, an Oregon Department of Justice task force alerted sheriff's office detectives that they had information from the Center for Missing & Exploited Children about a local Facebook user who had attempted to upload graphic images of child sexual abuse. Stevenson was identified as the suspect in that case.
Detectives served a search warrant in June 2018 at Stevenson's registered address in the 7200 block of Crowfoot Road in Trail, a news release from the sheriff's office said. They seized multiple electronic devices and transferred them to the DOJ for a forensic search.
The results of that search weren't disclosed until about 14 months later. Denney said that higher-priority criminal cases, such as homicides or major sexual assaults, can push cases without identified victims, such as Stevenson's, down on the list. "It's not unusual," she said. "Cases are triaged by the labs because there’s such a high demand for analysis of electronics."
While waiting for the results, she said, the department had no evidence on which to base an ongoing investigation into Stevenson, aside from compliance with the terms of his registration as a sex offender. "There’s nothing we really can do regarding that investigation until we have evidence to move forward," she said.
In the meantime, Stevenson allegedly moved without notifying local law enforcement, as his June 3, 2019 arrest tied him to an address in the 2400 block of Valley View Road, Ashland. "He was out of compliance," said Tim Doney, chief of Talent police, in June. "He wasn’t living where he was indicated he was living."
The electronics Jackson County Sheriff's detectives seized last June were eventually found to contain multiple images depicting child sexual abuse. Denney said the Sheriff's Office worked with the Jackson County District Attorney's Office to establish the charges. Counts generally correspond to the number of image or videos, she said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also assisted with the investigation, she said.
Doney said that the police department and the school district have worked together to try to secure campuses so similar incidents don't happen. In the immediate aftermath of the intrusion, Santi said in June that teachers and other school staff would be talking with students about the importance of not letting strangers in through side doors.
Improvements included in the Phoenix-Talent school bond are also expected to add to school security. Ernie Whiteman, a school resource officer who began working part-time at the school last spring, will also be on campus a few days each week again this school year.
Doney said, however, that a case where someone gains access for so long is extremely rare. "It's one of those cases that is probably kind of once in a lifetime," he said, "and you just hope it never happens again."
Troopers justified in killing man who wrestled gun from detective in Ore. state police office, DA says
By Everton Bailey Jr. | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Two state troopers were justified in fatally shooting a convicted sex offender at the agency’s Grants Pass office in August after he fought with a detective and they both wrestled for control of the detective’s gun, the Josephine County district attorney found.
Brandon C. Jones was a suspect in a child sexual abuse case when he arrived at the Oregon State Police office on the morning of Aug. 6, according to a memo by District Attorney Ryan Mulkins. Jones, 39, had been sentenced to prison in the past on prior sex abuse convictions.
Jones was being interviewed about what investigators found on a cellphone that he had given to them three months earlier. At some point, he told Detective Brendan Quirke that he no longer wanted to talk and that he was leaving, the memo said.
Quirke told Jones that he couldn’t leave and was under arrest. Jones then threw two punches at Quirke, hitting the detective once in the face, and the two ended up on the ground as Quirke attempted to pin Jones, the memo said.
Jones pulls Quirke’s holster and gun from the detective’s duty belt as they scuffled, the memo said. Quirke yelled that Jones had his gun as Quirke and another detective tried to subdue Jones, according to the district attorney.
The gun got out of the holster at some point and Jones grabbed it, Mulkins said in the memo. The handgun fired during the struggle but didn’t hit anyone.
Quirke yelled at his colleagues in the office to shoot Jones while they were struggling, Mulkins said.
Lt. Stephanie Bigman shot Jones in the side and Trooper Josh Quick shot Jones twice in the shoulder, Mulkins said. Quirke grabbed the gun away afterward. Jones died at the office.
According to the district attorney, Jones told his girlfriend in April that he “would rather die than go back to jail” and that he would have a shootout with police officers. Jones also told detectives when he handed them his cellphone in May in the sex abuse investigation that he’d die before returning to prison, Mulkins said.
Suicide by cop?
Jones’ criminal history includes Josephine County convictions for first-degree sexual abuse in 1997 and second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse in 2011, Oregon court records show.
On the day before he met with Quirke, Jones threatened any police officers who tried to arrest him in a post on a Facebook account that he used, according to the district attorney.
In a post written at 10:04 p.m. on Aug. 5, Jones wrote in all capital letters that if any officers “think about touching me … better pray before clocking in. Because I will rip out your spine through your stomach. I’m ready. Are you! Bring it on!!!!!”
Portland, Ore, man gave meth to underage neighbor,
raped her repeatedly, prosecutors allege
By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | The Oregonian/OregonLive
A Portland man is accused of plying an underage neighbor with methamphetamine and raping her multiple times, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.
Paul Douglas Hamilton, 57, faces eight counts of second-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, unlawful delivery of methamphetamine to a minor and endangering the welfare of a minor, court records show.
Hamilton was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Records show he remains held in the Multnomah County jail on $1.5 million bail.
Prosecutors allege Hamilton provided drugs to the girl, who was under 14, and raped her more than once between August 2010 and August 2012.
Portland police, which launched an investigation in July 2018, arrested Hamilton on Aug. 30, according to the district attorney’s office.
Records show Hamilton, who is unemployed, has prior convictions for methamphetamine possession, kidnapping, bail jumping and driving under the influence of intoxicants.
His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Junction City, Ore, man sentenced to 15 years
for child sex abuse
By Chelsea Deffenbacher
A Junction City man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sexual abuse.
Jason Michael Reed, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of second-degree sodomy in Lane County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to 180 months, with credit for time served.
Reed has been in the custody of the Lane County Jail since April 30, when he was arrested by Junction City police on 50 counts of first-degree sexual abuse. The Lane County District Attorney’s Office filed three of those charges and three additional second-degree sodomy charges. The abuse occurred between Oct. 1 and Dec. 8, 2018.
No indication of the age of the child here.
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