Thread: ORE-Silverton officer arraigned on sex abuse charges

02/13/07 Silverton officer arraigned on sex abuse charges
Posted by Joseph Rose, The Oregonian July 15, 2008 15:00PM
Categories: Breaking News, Editors' Picks, Marion County
The Silverton police officer who fatally shot an Irish national last month was arraigned this morning on charges of sexually abusing a minor over several years and ordered held without bail by a Marion County judge.

Tony Gonzalez made a brief appearance in a Marion County jail courtroom, saying nothing beyond answering Circuit Court Judge Joseph A. Ochoa's questions with a simple "yes" or "no."

Gonzalez, who is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, a Measure 11 crime, and three counts of third-degree sexual abuse, waived the reading of the charges. He was taken into custody Sunday.

Gonzalez knew the victim, according to the probable cause statement submitted by Salem Police, which investigated the case. The document said he inappropriately touched the girl numerous times over several years.

Although he stopped for a time, he resumed touching her in three separate incidents last week, the statement says.

Gonzalez initially denied the allegations, but later admitted to touching her, although he rebuted some of the details of the alleged abuse.


The next court hearing in the case is set for July 22. "At some point and time, a bail hearing may be set," Ochoa told family members and friends of Andrew "A.J." Hanlon who were in the courtroom.

Gonzalez is on administrative leave from the Silverton Police Department after fatally shooting Hanlon during a late-night confrontation on a SIlverton road in June.

Standing 5-foot-4, Gonzalez stood in a room connected to the jail, but separated from the courtroom by a wall of glass. His green jumpsuit left exposed a large tattoo on his right bicep. He kept his gaze on the judge and a court-appointed attorney and did not look at the courtroom, where Hanlon's sister, Melanie Heise, and family members and friends watched.

The Marion County district attorney's office is conducting the shooting investigation and has released scant details, including whether Hanlon was armed.

The sex-abuse case against Gonzalez is a strange twist in the ongoing saga. Matt Kemmy, a deputy district attorney, said the two are not connected.

The allegations came to light Saturday when a woman and her daughter contacted Keizer police with information about Gonzalez.

Kemmy declined to give more facts about the case, including the girl's age. However, he did say the charges show Gonzalez's abuse of the girl had been happening for years.
He said the Measure 11 offenses were filed for alleged offenses before the girl was 14, and the additional charges were connected to incidents when she was under 18.

-- Joseph Rose; josephrose@news.oregonian.com
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews ... _shoo.html

More disintegration of US society.