PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Lane County judge has postponed the sex abuse trial of prominent gay rights activist Terry Bean to give investigators more time to track down the alleged 17-year-old victim, who has gone into hiding.
The trial, which was supposed to start Tuesday, is now scheduled for Sept. 1, The Register-Guard reported (https://bit.ly/1T24DHT ). Prosecutor Scott Healy requested the delay because authorities have not yet been able to find the teen and serve him with a subpoena.
The boy’s attorney, Lori Deveney, previously told prosecutors her client had agreed to a financial settlement and did not want to testify. A judge, however, rejected the deal and ruled criminal charges should be pursued because an adult shouldn’t be allowed to sidestep child sexual abuse allegations by compensating a victim.
Prosecutors say the teen is taking “extraordinary measures” to not be found. Court records show he quit his jobs in San Diego in mid-July and took a train to Eugene with his mother, who lives in Oregon. The mother and son stopped using their cellphones and credit cards because they didn’t want to be traced by law enforcement, the records state, and disappeared in a car rented by a friend.
Bean, 66, and his former boyfriend, Kiah Lawson, 25, of Junction City, are accused of sexually abusing the boy at a Eugene hotel in 2013 when he was 15. Prosecutors said the teen was paid $40 for the encounter.
The two men have pleaded not guilty to two counts of sodomy and one count of sexual abuse.
Both the teen’s attorney and Bean’s attorney, Derek Ashton, asked the judge during a hearing Friday in Lane County Circuit Court to throw out the case. Ashton argued prosecutors had plenty of time to find the teen.
Bean is a Portland real estate developer who helped found two national political groups, the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. He has been a major contributor for several Democratic presidential candidates.
The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sex crimes.
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Information from: The Register-Guard, https://www.registerguard.com
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