In brief: Social worker pleads guilty to child porn
A man who once licensed foster care homes for the state pleaded guilty Friday to two federal counts of distribution of child pornography.
Darrell J. Rogers, who was 51 when he was arrested earlier this year, was indicted following an April search of his home in the 7100 block of North Westgate Place in the Indian Trail neighborhood of Spokane.
His wife, Kim Rogers, also works as a social worker for the state Department of Social and Health Services. She specializes in finding homes for children who are wards of the state. The investigation did not implicate her in any way.
Darrell Rogers admitted using Internet file-sharing programs to obtain the pornography and denied that he ever inappropriately touched children.
His attorney Matthew Campbell and Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks agreed on a sentencing recommendation of five years in federal prison. U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush set the sentencing for Nov. 13.
Two people treated after factory fire
Two people were treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a manufacturing plant in Liberty Lake on Friday.
Fourteen people at Precision Manufacturing, 1711 N. Madison St., were identified as having been exposed to potentially toxic smoke at the plant, which prepares metal parts and components for powder coating.
Spokane Valley fire engines, ladders and support units with a total of 34 crew members responded to the scene.
Two people were treated at Deaconess Medical Center “for precautionary evaluation of respiratory symptoms,” according to a news release.
Damage was minimal, and the company’s manufacturing processes are expected to be back to normal soon. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Victim’s father wants to be estate’s heir
Steve Groene, of Coeur d’Alene, has petitioned a court to find him the sole heir of the estate of his son Dylan, the 9-year-old murdered by Joseph Duncan in 2005.
The petition, filed Monday in Idaho’s 1st District Court, follows a lawsuit Groene filed in June against Brandy Hoagland, the aunt of Dylan and his sister, Shasta. Hoagland set up an account with U.S. Bank to collect donations for the children after they were kidnapped by Duncan in May 2005.
In his June 7 suit, Steve Groene accuses Hoagland of self-dealing and other mismanagement of the fund. The suit claims that “almost all” of the $48,000 donated has been spent and says Hoagland has refused to account for about $11,000 in withdrawals.
Groene’s petition this week asserts that the funds deposited in the account are part of Dylan’s estate, and that he alone is heir to that estate.
Hoagland is the sister of Brenda Groene, Dylan’s mother.