A Cheney man has been sentenced to 17 years to life in prison for raping and molesting children.

William D. Hargrove, 48, was convicted of first- and second-degree child rape and first- and second-degree child molestation after a bench trial last week before Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt.

Hargrove was accused of raping two girls for most of their childhoods. One reported knife-point attacks, according to court documents.

Cheney police were alerted to the abuse in August 2008.

Hargrove was sentenced Monday to 210 months in prison. He must undergo a sexual deviance assessment before he's released, which could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.
  

A state social services employee arrested on child pornography charges April 17 has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Darrell J. Rogers, 51, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of distribution of child pornography. The charges carry five years to 20 years in prison and registration as a sex offender if convicted. 

Rogers, a married father with no criminal history, was allowed to leave jail a few days after his arrest after undergoing a mental health assessment.

A prosecutor said the material federal agents downloaded from Rogers, who licenses foster homes for children, is some of the worst he's encountered in his 36 years of practicing law.

A state social services employee accused of distributing child pornography must undergo a mental health evaluation before he can leave jail, a judge ruled today.

A federal prosecutor said the material distributed by Darrell J. Rogers, who licenses foster homes for children, is some of the worst he's encountered in his 36 years of practicing law.

“This is not normal child pornography,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks said at Rogers' bail hearing in U.S. District Court. “This is child pornography that is very disturbing.”

The material includes a video of a 3-month-old girl being raped by an adult male, Hicks said.

“This is not like trading baseball cards,” Hicks said. “What kind of person would have an interest in this?…Most people are disgusted by it, and most people would ask 'what's wrong with this person?'”

Rogers, 51, is a married father of two with no criminal history. He's lived in Spokane his entire life and has worked for the state Department of Health and Human Services since 1995. Family, friends and coworkers attended his hearing; some left afterward in tears.

Distributing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for each image.

U.S Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno will review Rogers' mental health evaluation. Rogers and his wife must pay $25,000 bond to secure his release from jail. If he is released, Rogers will be confined to his home and must wear an electric monitor. Firearms that FBI agents found in his home during a search on Tuesday must be removed.

Imbrogno called the conditions “perhaps about as stringent as they get for this type of charge,” she said.

Hicks cited Rogers’ employment as a person in a position of trust with children as further reason for a mental health evaluation.

“He's leading a double life, in effect,” Hicks said.

A DSHS spokesman said Rogers will be reassigned to a position in which he does not have contact with children if he's released from jail pending the resolution of his case. Imbrogno said she'll decide if Rogers can be employed after reading his evaluation.

Rogers has been in the Spokane County Jail since Tuesday, when FBI agents arrested him at his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail area in north Spokane and seized a computer containing sexually explicit images of children.

The FBI began investigating him in February after an agent in Maryland downloaded child pornography from an Internet Protocol address linked to Rogers' home.

The material features the infant and children up to six years old, Hicks said.

Rogers told the FBI the material was on a computer in the guest bedroom when questioned, Hicks said.

Rogers also told investigators he'd never hurt a child and would contact authorities if he knew of someone who was. He said he wasn't sexually attracted to children but was “trying to figure out” child pornography.

Hicks said Rogers' response was typical “even from people who have been diagnosed as pedophiles.”

“I'm not saying Rogers is; I'm saying that's a typical response,” Hicks said.

He called the assertion that viewing and distributing child pornography doesn't harm children “bunk.”

“Fifty-one-year-olds creating generations of pedophiles. If we look at the facts, that’s what happens in a lot of circumstances,” Hicks said.

Public defender Matthew Campbell said a mental health evaluation isn't necessary and said Rogers is not a danger to the community. “He has no criminal history,” Campbell said.

Campbell said prosecutors have not opposed pre-trial release in other child pornography cases, but Hicks said the cases didn't involve three month olds being raped by adult males.

A state social services employee who licenses foster care homes was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child pornography possession.

Darrell J. Rogers, 51, is in the Spokane County Jail without bail after appearing in U.S. District Court Tuesday afternoon. FBI agents arrested him at his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail area in north Spokane, where he lives with his wife, Kim Rogers, 49.

Kim Rogers also is a social worker with the state Department of Social and Health Services who specializes in finding homes for children who are wards of the state. Her husband licenses those homes, a neighbor said.

Darrell Rogers told FBI agents his wife had nothing to do with the child pornography they were investigating, according to court documents. The FBI began investigating Rogers in February after an agent in Maryland downloaded child pornography from an Internet user in Spokane.

The material includes children as young as approximately three months old being sexually assaulted by men and women.

Darrell Rogers was a social worker for 10 years beginning in 1995, said Thomas Shapley, DSHS spokesman. He began licensing foster homes in 2005, Shapley said.

Rogers is barred from entering his workplace, and his computer access has been locked. Should he be released from jail pending the resolution of the case, “we've already prepared an alternative work assignment for him where he would not have any contact with children,” Shapley said.

FBI agents say Rogers admitted Tuesday to using Internet file sharing programs and said no one else in the home, including his wife and two sons, would have used the screen names associated with the explicit material.

“Agents asked if he knew of any really bad people who he traded with that specifically harmed children,” according to court documents. “Rogers responded that he did not know of anyone who was abusing children, and had he known he would have reported it.”

Rogers told federal agents he had had no sexual interest in the material but was “trying to figure it out,” documents say.

“When asked about how long he had an interest in child pornography, Rogers stated that he did not know, and that he would never touch a child, and would never molest children,” agents wrote.

Rogers is due back in court Friday for a hearing to determine if he can be allowed out of jail on bail pending trial.

A child molestation suspect who has been missing since escaping a manhunt in North Idaho in December was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles.

Nathaniel Robert Howell, 32, was booked into jail in Los Angeles County about 3:52 p.m. Thursday, according to online records.

Howell had been wanted on a felony warrant in Kootenai County charging him with four counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and five counts of sexual exploitation.

Coeur d'Alene police notified the public about his fugitive status after he ran from police through the woods in the 1500 block of South Sagle Road last December.

Howell had seen police while visiting relatives nearby. He's now awaiting extradition to North Idaho from California.

A man known as “Teacher Grandpa” at a Spokane day care has been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for child rape.

Eugene R. Wright, 66, is to serve 123 months and undergo a sexual deviance evaluation before he's released, which could mean he stays in prison for the rest of his life.

Wright was arrested in August 2010 for sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl at the Bigfoot Child Care Center at Spokane Community College.

Wright passed a background check and began working at the center in late June 2010. He was dismissed in mid-August 2010 when a young girl told her mother that Wright had molested her. Another parent told police she’d witnessed inappropriate contact between Wright and the girl.

Wright also worked at the East Central Head Start program from January 2010 until he transferred to the Bigfoot center.

Wright passed a background check through the state Department of Early Learning and was paid a stipend through a Catholic Charities program that finds work for low-income elderly people.

Wright pleaded guilty to first-degree child rape Jan. 27 and was sentenced by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke. He's in the Spokane County Jail awaiting transport to prison.

Spokane police Detective Stephanie Barkley investigated the case. Sgt. Steve Wohl of the sexual assault unit “credits the cooperative efforts among the Daycare on the SCC campus and other criminal justice partners for this very thorough and extensive investigation,” according to a news release.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of a sex offender who hasn't checked in with authorities.

Robert Tom Boren, 32, was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Washington state in 1994.

He last registered as a transient in Spokane County, which means he's required to check in with authorities once a week. But he hasn't done that, and a $15,000 arrest warrant was issued Jan. 18.

Crime Stoppers offered a reward for tips on Monday.

Boren, 6-feet tall and 170 pounds, is a level 2 sex offender. Level 3 is considered the most likely to reoffend; level 1 is the least.

Anyone with information on Boren's location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online.

A sex offender considered likely to reoffend is living as a transient in Spokane County, the sheriff's office announced today.

Kevin Duane Musgrove, 33, was convicted of first-degree child molestation in Spokane County in 1993. His victim was a 3-year-old boy. Musgrove was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Musgrove also has juvenile convictions for two counts of fourth-degree assault with a sexual motivation.

He is a level 3 sex offender, which is the classification considered likely to reoffend.

Musgrove is not wanted by authorities, but the sheriff's office wants the public to be aware of his presence.

Musgrove is required to check in with authorities every week because he has no permanent address.

Spokane County's sex offender registry is available here.

A child molestation suspect who escaped a manhunt in the Sagle, Idaho, area Tuesday is wanted by Coeur d'Alene police.

Nathaniel R. Howell, 32, ran from police through the woods in the 1500 block of South Sagle Road about 3 p.m. after he saw the officers while visiting relatives nearby.

Howell is charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and five counts of sexual exploitation.

Howell is 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds with hazel eyes and blonde hair. Anyone with information on his location is asked to call Coeur d'Alene police at (208) 769-2320.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that lead to the arrest of a man charged with first-degree child molestation.

Carlos P. Unup, 46, is accused of inappropriately touching a six-year-old girl while riding in a car with her parents near East Bigleow Gulch Road and North Havana Street on Aug. 21.

A $25,000 warrant for his arrest was issued Oct. 21, the same day prosecutors charged him.

Anyone with information on Unup's location is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

Tipsters do not have to leave their name to collect a reward but should leave a code name or number.

Four homicide victims – including an African-American man shot in the head at close-range in Eureka, Calif. – are now being linked to a jailed couple with extensive criminal records and white supremacy beliefs. Read Bill Morlin's report for the Southern Poverty Law Center here.

Here's a report from the Associated Press:
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man and his girlfriend have admitted to killing the man's father and stepmother in a 5-day crime spree that authorities said ultimately left four dead across the Pacific Northwest.

David Joseph Pedersen, 31, (pictured) told a California newspaper in a story published Monday that he killed his father and was responsible for the three other killings in Washington, Oregon and California. His 24-year-old girlfriend, Holly Grigsby, separately described to investigators in Washington state how she killed Pedersen's stepmother using two knives.

The crime spree began last month, as Pedersen's father drove the couple to catch a bus in Everett, Wash., according to Grigsby's statements to police. Pedersen shot his father from behind as Grigsby took control of the vehicle, she said. The couple then returned to the father's home, where Grigsby stabbed Pedersen's stepmother with the knives, she told authorities. Leslie Pedersen, called “Dee Dee” by friends and family, was found with a bloody pillow wrapped around her head.

The couple said Pedersen's father, David Jones “Red” Pedersen, was targeted because he allegedly molested his daughter and a niece when they were younger.

Grigsby told authorities the stepmother, Leslie Pedersen, was killed because she didn't do anything about the alleged molestation.

“I felt it was my responsibility to make sure it didn't happen again,” the younger Pedersen told The Appeal Democrat in a jailhouse interview. He said Grigsby was involved in the slayings only under duress and shouldn't be held responsible for the deaths.

Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said officers have not yet looked into the molestation allegations but planned to do so. He said evidence collected so far indicates much of Grigsby's story could be plausible.

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Pederson at the Yuba County Jail were not immediately successful Monday.

The deaths of Pedersen's father and stepmother led the couple to the logging roads of Oregon, where authorities said they dumped the father's Jeep with his body still inside.

While in Oregon, police said they also fatally shot 19-year-old Cody Myers, who had been attending a jazz festival outside the coastal town of Newport. Police said Myers was shot in the head and chest. Pedersen and Grigsby were arrested last week in Myers' car outside Sacramento.

A fourth body, that of a 54-year-old man, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in California on Friday. Police in Eureka linked Reginald Alan Clark's death to the couple, but didn't release details. Clark is pictured at right.

Pedersen and Grigsby have pleaded not guilty to charges of weapons possession and vehicle theft, and their bail was set at $1 million. They are expected in court Tuesday for an extradition hearing. They have not been charged in the killings.

Their appointed attorney, Donald Wahlberg, said he did not know anything about the case beyond what had been reported.

In the days after Leslie Pedersen's body was found, suspicion quickly fell on her stepson and his girlfriend. David Joseph Pedersen has an extensive criminal history, having spent the ages of 16 to 31 behind bars, except for a one-year stretch. His convictions include assaulting a police officer and threatening a federal judge, and other disciplinary infractions included assault, extortion, disobedience, harassment and destruction of property.

Grigsby also spent time in prison beginning in 2006 for a variety of charges, including identity theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle. After completing probation, she served two years for identity theft. Even in prison, she got into trouble for assault and possession of contraband.

Both share an interest in white supremacy ideology, with Pedersen prominently displaying a white supremacy tattoo on his neck. Grigsby's white supremacist leanings were made clear to fellow inmates at Oregon's women's prison.

Oct. 6: Racist in murder spree threatened to kill Idaho judge

Oct. 5: Couple in NW. manhunt arrested in Calif.

Oct. 5: Body found in manhunt may be that of teen

A 70-year-old Stevens County man who recently pleaded guilty to child rape has been indicted by a federal grand jury for producing child pornography.

James Ernest Guinn, Jr., is in jail awaiting sentencing in Stevens County Superior Court and arraignment in U.S. District Court, where he was indicted last week on charges of production of child pornography, transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Guinn is accused of producing child pornography with a young girl between August and November 2010, and of transporting child pornography from California to Washington in 2006.

Investigators found child pornography dating back to the 1960s and on several kinds of media, ranging from digital images in computer files, to video footage and 8 mm movie film, according to the Stevens County Prosecutor's Office.

Guinn faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted. He's to be arraigned in Spokane on Oct. 6. He already faces 93 to 123 months in state prison after pleading guilty to first-degree rape of a child Tuesday in Stevens County.
  

A competitive mixed-martial arts fighter set to begin trial today on charges that he raped and molested a young girl has a reward being offered for tips that lead to his capture after he didn't show up for court. 

Michael L. Mininger, 30, is wanted on a $25,000 warrant after missing a pre-trail conference Sept. 2 in Spokane County Superior Court, where he was to stand trial this week on two counts of first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation.

Crime Stoppers today announced a reward for tips that lead to his arrest. Mininger is accused of raping a 9-year-old girl over a period of three years.

He was arrested June 11, 2010, but has been out of jail on $10,000 bond since June 17, 2010. Mininger has no criminal convictions.

He's 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds and last gave a home address in the 11900 block of East Mansfield Avenue in Spokane Valley, according to Crime Stoppers.

Anyone with information on his current location is asked to call 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

A Spokane man is accused of molesting a 10-year-old girl his girlfriend was babysitting.

Dewitt Allen “D” Harrelson, 46, is in jail on $10,000 bond after appearing in Spokane County Superior Court Friday on a first-degree child molestation charge.

The girl told a Stevens Elementary School counselor about the alleged contact, which she said occurred in late 2009 and early 2010 at her babysitter's home when the babysitter wasn't present.

Court documents say the girl's father was “expressed rage and anger” toward Harrelson and “expressed resentment that child molesters were frequently treated too leniently by the criminal justice system.”

Harrelson later told officers that the girl's father had hit him in the head with an ax handle but he didn't call police, documents say.

Charges were filed April 1; Harrelson was arrested on Thursday.

A Seattle man was sentenced Friday to a treatment alternative for sexually assaulting two girls in February while visiting a family in north Spokane County.

James E. Norby, 67, had pleaded guilty to first-degree rape of a child and first-degree child molestation.

Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno sentenced Norby, who has no prior felony convictions, to the state’s sex offender sentencing alternative, which will include three years of treatment.

Norby he could be sent to prison for life if he fails to comply.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” Norby said. “I don’t know why it happened.”
  

A sex offender with a lengthy criminal history in Oregon will serve 15 years to life in prison for molesting a girl in Post Falls.

Roy L. Goldsborough, 52, was arrested in December after a 12-year-old girl told family members about the abuse.

Post Falls police recorded a phone call between the girl and Goldsborough in which he confessed to the abuse, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in March to lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and being an habitual offender.

Kootenai County District Curt Judge John Mitchell sentenced him Wednesday to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 15 years, with credit for time served in the Kootenai County Jail.

Mitchell noted Goldsborough's extensive criminal history, the nature of the offense and his “blame shifting” when sentencing him, accoridng to the Kootenai County Prosecutor's Office.

Goldsborough's criminal history includes convictions for two counts of sexual abuse, two counts of felony assault and single counts of petit theft, delivery of a controlled substance and driving under the influence. Goldsborough moved to Post Falls last fall.

In a prepared statement, Prosecutor Barry McHugh said the sentence “was appropriate given the unconscionable nature of the offense and the continued predatory conduct by the defendant.”

A child molester was sentenced today to 12 years in federal prison for possession child pornography.

Donald D. Holloway, 51, of Valley, Wash., received a longer sentence because of previous conviction in Stevens County for second-degree and third-degree child molestation.

The level 3 sex offender was arrested in December 2009 after three computers containing child pornography were seized from his home 2900 block of Bakie Road in Valley, along with digital media and printed images.

Holloway was already on probation for a 2002 marijuana conviction. He also was convicted of indecent liberties in 1981.

“Repeat offenders have proven that they have no place in our neighborhoods,” Michael Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said in a prepared statement.

The case was prosecuted under the federal Project Safe Childhood initiative.

Accordng to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Initiative has five major components:

• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue child victims

• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives

• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases

• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents

• Community awareness and educational programs

To report these crimes, visit www.cybertipline.com or call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s hotline at 1-800-843-5678.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

A Spokane man is accused of raping a young girl

Richard Lee Syers, 40, was arrested on charges of first-degree child molestation and first-degree child rape on Tuesday.

He's accused of assaulting the girl last month. Syers is a friend of the alleged victim's mother.

The girl told police her assailant had large fingers. Syers matches the description - he's 5-foot-11 and 385 pounds.

He's expected in Superior Court today after refusing to go on Wednesday.

A man wanted for failing to register in Spokane County is in custody on federal child pornography charges in Idaho.

Jody Michael Thomas, 40, was at a home in Caldwell, Idaho, when Idaho State Police served a search warrant for drugs last October.

Detectives found a computer containing child pornography that belonged to Thomas. He was arrested that day for failing to register as a sex offender in Idaho. He said he'd registered as a sex offender in Spokane but moved to Idaho in December 2009, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.

Thomas was convicted of aggravated child molestation, statutory rape and three counts of child molestation in Georgia in 1988 for having sex with a 10-year-old girl. He served 15 years in prison. He also was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender in Okanogan County in 2004.

Thomas pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of sexually explicit images of minors, which bring a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and failure to register a s sex offender, which carries up to 10 years incarceration. He's to be sentenced June 14 in Boise.

He's still wanted in Spokane County on a $25,000 warrant for failure to register as a sex offender. http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/sirens/2011/mar/14/tips-sought-3-fugitive-sex-offenders/

A convicted robber jailed on federal gun charges is accused of assaulting an alleged child molester at the federal courthouse.

James D. Bacon, 23, (pictured) is charged with misdemeanor assault for punching Darrel W. Monzingo, 44, as the men shared a holding cell at the Thomas S. Foley United States Courthouse on March 10.

Another defendant in the cell, Fabian Vaksman, said Bacon punched Monzingo after Monzingo refused to discuss his charges, which include two counts of production of child pornography.

Bacon “made statements to the effect that he hated sex offenders,” Vaksman told U.S. Marshals. Vaksman also noted blood on Monzingo's face; Marshals say his lower lip was split.

Bacon and Monzingo were Spokane County Jail inmates but were at the courthouse for hearings before U.S. District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen.

Monzingo, whose trial is scheduled in September, faces up to 30 years in prison after Spokane police found child pornography during a search of his home at 3403 E. Fairview Ave. on Dec. 16.

Bacon pleaded guilty March 10 to felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and faces up to 10 years in prison when he's sentenced in June. The new assault charge, filed today, carries a maximum six months incarceration and a fine of up to $5,000.

Bacon, who was convicted of armed robbery in 2004, was wanted for a felony drug violation and Department of Corrections warrant when he ran from police near Wellesley Avenue and Regal Street on Dec. 7. Police arrested him in a struggle, then realized he was armed with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun.