In brief: Man sentenced in sexual abuse case

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A former Bible camp counselor was sentenced Tuesday in Vancouver to 35 years in prison for sexually abusing two children he knew through church.

Michael Scott Norris, 46, of Vancouver, was convicted in July of child rape and molestation.

The Columbian reported Norris was a volunteer pastor and counselor at Open Bible Church in Portland when he was arrested in 2006.

The case was delayed by a dispute over evidence and a separate federal prosecution of Norris for producing child pornography. He received a 25-year child pornography sentence that will be served at the same time as his state sentence for rape.

Lawsuit threat nets transfer of inmates

BILLINGS – Custer County officials said they will move prisoners from the Miles City detention center after a civil liberties organization threatened to sue over conditions at the Montana jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in an Aug. 23 letter to the county that conditions at the jail constitute cruel and unusual punishment to the prisoners there.

The ACLU said the jail lacks ventilation, natural light, fresh air and sanitary conditions. The organization added that the jail has mold, a falling ceiling, dirty linen and clothing and inadequate medical services.

ACLU attorneys threatened to sue, telling the county it had until Oct. 8 to find a new location.

Cocaine a factor in diver’s death

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – The Kitsap County coroner said cocaine intoxication was a factor in the death of a state Department of Natural Resources diver who drowned in July off Bainbridge Island.

David D. Scheinost, of Puyallup, was part of a dive team sampling geoduck clams for paralytic shellfish poisoning. He reportedly surfaced briefly and sank.

KOMO reported the death certificate released Tuesday said the 24-year-old drowned while scuba diving and was intoxicated by cocaine.