Attorney General John Kroger today announced that a former fugitive was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. “Child pornography victimizes children, and the people who engage in it need to be punished,” said Attorney General Kroger. John Calvin Hudson, III was indicted in Coos County in August 2009, but fled the area. The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force arrested him in September in a Bend motel. Hudson pleaded guilty on November 17th to 10 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree and was sentenced to 3 years in prison and 3 years of postprison supervision.

He was taken into custody after the hearing. Senior Assistant Attorney General Michael Slauson prosecuted the case. Hudson’s arrest followed an investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) unit, which investigates and prosecutes predators who use the Internet to target and sexually exploit children. The unit works with 160 district attorneys, law enforcement agencies and regional task forces that investigate online predators. ICAC is the only program in Oregon that is equipped with the necessary resources to catch sex predators throughout the state. Recent budget cuts threatened to end the program in Oregon, but Attorney General Kroger made restoring the funds a top public safety priority.

 This spring, Kroger announced that the Oregon Department of Justice had received a $665,000 federal stimulus grant to keep the program operating. Since 2005, more than 100 Internet predators who targeted Oregon children or operated in Oregon have been convicted as a result of ICAC investigations. Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department’s mission is to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare, and defend the rights of all Oregonians.¤

Cory Courtright continues her quest for justice in the murder of her daughter, Leah Freeman, even as she faces another painful anniversary on Thursday, Oct. 29 – the day that would have been Leah’s 25th birthday. Freeman’s life was cut tragically short when, at fifteen years old, she disappeared while walking home in Coquille, Oregon, the night of June 29, 2000. Her body was discovered in Fairview, a wooded town eight miles outside of Coquille, more than a month later on Aug. 3, 2000.

 After an autopsy was performed, it was determined that Freeman died from homicidal violence. Nearly a decade after her death, the murder remains unsolved, and Courtright is making a plea to local law enforcement, “I am simply asking Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier to dedicate a cold case team to re-investigate Leah’s murder. I don’t feel like the agencies handling the case have ever been in sync and with all of the personnel changes at the Coquille Police Department. I fear that crucial details of the investigation could very well have fallen through the cracks.” Courtright says she was aware of an active investigation before her daughter’s body was found, but has heard very little about other developments in the case since that point in time.

 Legal documents that were released to the public several years ago detail the initial investigation and can be found at http://www.leahfreeman. com/documents.ht m. In June, Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier explained to local media that while the case is considered “cold,” investigators remain active following any and all tips they receive. Courtright doesn’t feel like this is enough, “They need to do more than follow-up on tips. They need to have a dedicated team go back and look through all of the files again, re-interview everyone involved and re-examine all of the evidence.” Anyone with information regarding Leah’s murder is encouraged to contact the Coquille Police Department at (541) 396-2114, or Coos Stop Crime at (541) 267- 6666. Courtright’s family is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. For more information please visit Justice for Leah on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pa ges/Jutice-for- Leah/143634984432, or at http://www.leahfreeman.co m.

My husband and I were at Laverne Park recently enjoying the gorgeous fall colors. While there we heard a very disturbing
fact. The BLM is planning to clear cut the park. We thought it was a joke at first. Laverne Park is one of the most beautiful
and popular camping and day use areas in the county. It is just about the only place folks and their youngsters can get close
to old growth trees. Now, we understand that there are a few trees that need to come down due to age and deterioration.
However the majority just need to be limbed up and trimmed. Why anyone would want to destroy such a naturally beautiful
landmark is beyond our understanding. Our hearts are breaking at the mere thought of it. Please, can you stop this?
Mel & Suzie Biggs
Fairview, Coquille

Nikki Whitty
Mel and Suzie - Thank you for your question. Yesterday (10/7) Larry Robison, County Parks Director, took us on a site visit to Laverne Park. He wanted to show us the trees BLM deemed dangerous and was proposing to have removed and the ones that merely were proposed to have some limbs removed

I don't know how the rumor got started that BLM wanted to clear cut the property but that is not the case. It is such a beautiful spot that it is a shame to have to remove anything at all but there could be liability issues. For the most part Larry agreed with their assessment but there were cases where if it were left up to Park staff some might not be removed. Coos County leases most of that property from BLM the actual county owned land is very small. There may be some things happening in the near future - this is very definitely a "stay tuned" issue.

Bob Main
The BLM has identified some myrtle and fir trees are to be limbed or removed. Some of the trees are dead, dying or have split tops - all of which pose a danger to park visitors. Several of the old growth fir trees are going to be removed. There are orange tags on each of the trees identified to be either limbed or removed. In 1989, a visitor to LaVerne Park was killed when a tree limb fell on him.

On Monday, September 28th a Coos County dump truck tipped over and crashed when its raised box got tangled in wires outside the county shop in Coquille. Coquille police responded to the 1300 block of West Central Boulevard, where the truck had crashed and was blocking traffic. The driver, Alvin Stibitz, 65, of Myrtle Point, was headed to the Beaver Hill cutoff to help with a paving project when the accident occurred. Stibitz was treated for some scratches by medics at the crash scene, but was otherwise unharmed. A power pole was damaged during the accident, but there were no reported outages.

Given the International Port of Coos Bay Commissioners are elected by the voting public, why do attorneys who represent the Jorden Cove Energy/LNG Project, also represent the International Port of Coos Bay in matters that come before the Board of Commissioners? Eldon Rollins

Nikki Whitty
The Commissioners of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay are not elected. They used to be elected but a ballot measure before the voters of Coos County a few years ago changed that. The response from the voters was that the Commissioners of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay should be appointed by the Governor. I think the rationale was that if the Port of Coos Bay were to be a state port like the Port of Portland perhaps we would get more attention. As for the second part of your question, I have no idea why either entity hired the attorneys they hired, I think you will need to ask them.

Bob Main
The Port of Coos Bay Port Commissioners are not elected, they are appointed by the Governor. As for why certain attorneys represent the Port, that would be a question for the Port.

In a plea bargain agreement, ex-Coquille Police Officer, James Bryant, pled guilty to charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor but not guilty to the charges of attempting to contribute to the sexual delinquency of a minor in Judge Barron’s courtroom on Monday. According to Bryant's attorney, Allen Goldman, Bryant, while intoxicated, inadvertently poured whiskey into the glass of a minor during a party game of "Quarters" at a house party in Coos Bay on March 17th. He also argued that Bryant was not on the job when attending the party. Judge Barron disagreed, saying a police officer is on duty 24 hours a day.

Bryant was sentenced to 15 days in jail and ordered to pay $887.00 in fines. Bryant also agreed to having his Officer Certification revoked. He will not be able to get a job as a police officer in 48 states including Oregon. Bryant tried to get JudgeBarron to reconsider the 15 days in jail. Barron said, “No.” Bryant then asked to serve his time closer to his home in Sisters, OR. District attorney Paul Frasier, told the Sentinel he was satisfied with the outcome, stating his main goal was to get Bryant's Officer certification revoked. In a related case Bryant's wife Tammy’s charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor were dismissed.