Document text
Porn case stalls; lawyers talk deal Prosecutor expects plea bargain soon By Mark Freeman A former Josephine County sheriff�s deputy has yet to face criminal charges more than a year after police found hundreds of illegal child pornography pictures and tapes at his Grants Pass home in a case a prosecutor has called "low priority." Although Oregon State Police officers seized boxes of computer disks, videos and photographs depicting young nude boys from Jerry B. Mathel�s house 13 months ago, Josephine County prosecutors have yet to seek an indictment against the former jail deputy who retired in the mid-1990s. "There were so many (child pornography) images," OSP Sgt. Kurt Barthel said. "There were too many to count." OSP detectives closed their investigation almost a year ago and recommended that prosecutors ask a grand jury to indict Mathel, 64, on five felony counts of encouraging child sexual abuse. Instead, Deputy District Attorney Mike Newman said he has met a half-dozen times with Dan Simcoe, Mathel�s Grants Pass attorney, to work out a deal and avoid the grand-jury process. Newman said he expects Mathel eventually to plead guilty to something, "very likely a felony," in this case, and that the plea should come within the next few months. Newman and his boss, District Attorney Clay Johnson, said their handling of the case has nothing to do with Mathel�s standing as a former county jailer. Newman said his belief that Mathel does not pose an immediate threat to children has helped make his prosecution "end up on the back burner" while Mathel remains free and uncharged. "We don�t have any reason to believe this person was doing anything but looking at pictures," Newman said. "If he did, this case would be given higher priority." But police, in court documents, allege that Mathel has done more than just look at pictures. State and federal inspectors have alleged in affidavits that evidence shows Mathel has copied and shipped child pornography across the country. It was the alleged interstate porn trading that brought the retired jailer to the attention of police. OSP Detective Ronda Osterberg began her investigation into Mathel in November 1999 after Mathel�s name surfaced as part of a child-pornography investigation by U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigators in Michigan, court documents show. When federal authorities searched the Sterling Heights, Mich., residence of a Gregg Smith, investigators found letters allegedly sent by Mathel to Smith in 1998. In the letters with Mathel�s return address and signed "Jerry," the author writes that he regularly scans, copies and sends images of nude children to others. In one letter dated June 20, 1998, the writer discusses why he has not elevated his child-porn "hobby" into a business. "As far as getting involved in any commercial operation with boy pics of any kind, I wouldn�t consider it under any circumstances," one of the letters reads. "It�s way too risky. This is a very nice hobby, and I think it�s better to just keep it low key." Federal law bars interstate shipping, mailing or knowingly receiving any pictures depicting anyone under 18 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In Oregon, possession of such photographs is considered a state crime of encouraging child sexual abuse. The state charge can be either a felony or a misdemeanor. The crimes are considered child abuse because the demand for them leads to children being exploited to make the photos. Armed with a warrant, OSP detectives on Dec. 10, 1999, searched Mathel�s home at 618 Greenfield Road in Grants Pass and found a cache of illegal child pornography, court records show. They included dozens of computer CD-ROM disks, several boxes of videos, photographs, and at least one book about sex between men and boys. "They were definitely children, and there was a lot," Osterberg said. "I couldn�t even begin to tell you. I was overwhelmed." Police catalogued the evidence and sent a report early last February detailing the investigation and recommending the five felony counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree, Osterberg said. The case was immediately assigned to Newman, who said he was approached by Simcoe, Mathel�s attorney, to discuss the case. Newman said he has discussed the case as recently as 10 days ago with Simcoe, who did not return telephone calls Monday for comment. Newman said the case would have proceeded faster if he had followed the standard order of business � indictment, arrest and jail. Newman, who handles most of the child-abuse cases in Josephine County, said he typically gets cases that need "immediate attention" because a child is in danger of being harmed, and that the Mathel case did not fit that bill. "There�s no reason to believe here that there is ... potentially a child in immediate danger," Newman said. "I�m not trying to minimize the seriousness of the crime," Newman said. "Child abuse occurred to create those pictures. The bottom line is, that abuse happened sometime in the past. The pictures are just flying around the Internet." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.