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CONSPIRACY Prosecution: Father tried to arrange assault on babysitter Defense argues grandfather most at fault Comment By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 14, 2015 at 6:43 PM By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 14, 2015 at 6:43 PM » Social News A father is on trial for allegedly trying to hire a person to assault a babysitter who made statements to authorities that caused him to lose custody of his child. A Jackson County Circuit Court jury was scheduled to begin deliberations Wednesday morning after hearing testimony in the case against Roseburg resident Corey Fenton, 31, on Tuesday. Fenton faces charges of soliciting second-degree assault and conspiracy to commit second-degree assault. The child's grandfather, Luther Paul Gann, 62, of Medford, pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of solicitation to commit second-degree assault, manufacture of marijuana and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. Gann has a criminal history that includes past assault cases. Gann is set to be sentenced July 24. Fenton and Gann came to the home of Debra Blanco in 2012 and offered her marijuana with a street value of about $3,000 to $5,000 as partial payment to find someone to beat up a babysitter, said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Virginia Greer. "Debra testified they said, 'Hurt her so bad she'll never speak again.' They wanted her to 'scramble her brains,'" Greer said in closing arguments Tuesday. Greer said Fenton, the father, gave Blanco a note with a description of the intended victim. The note also described how to get to the babysitter's home in Klamath Falls. Rather than finding someone to carry out the assault on the babysitter, Blanco went to authorities, Greer said. Matthew Murphy, defense attorney for the father, argued the grandfather did most of the talking during the meeting with Blanco. Murphy said the grandfather, who is seriously ill, doesn't want to die in prison and has cut a plea agreement deal with the District Attorney's Office at the expense of his son. "The state has picked the bad guy to side with," Murphy said. He said the prosecution hasn't proven the father and grandfather intended to have the babysitter beaten up so severely that it would have constituted second-degree assault, which involves serious injury. "We're trying to figure out what happened and it's just a garbled mess, as far as I can tell," Murphy said. On the witness stand, Fenton, the father, said he was upset when he lost custody of his son. But he said he didn't hear the conversation at Blanco's house about assaulting the babysitter or partially paying with marijuana. Fenton said the babysitter claimed in a report to child welfare authorities that he had assaulted her but she later rescinded the story. Testifying on the witness stand against his son, Gann denied ever asking for the babysitter to be beaten up to the point she could never talk again. Gann said his only intention was that the babysitter receive a "serious butt-kicking." Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous .     By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Jul. 14, 2015 at 6:42 PM Updated Jul 14, 2015 at 6:43 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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