By Matt Day
During Silverton Police Officer Tony Gonzalez’s July 22 arraignment on charges of sexually abusing a minor, Judge Joseph Ochoa announced the grand jury had added two additional counts, bringing the total to three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and four counts of third-degree sexual abuse.
First-degree sexual abuse is a Measure 11 crime and carries a mandatory sentence, in this case 75 months for each count. Measure 11 was a 1994 ballot initiative that set minimum mandatory sentences for serious crimes.
More than 20 reporters and spectators attended the short but tense proceedings at Marion County Circuit Court Annex Courtroom B. Among the spectators were Melanie and Nathan Heise, family members of Andrew Hanlon who was shot and killed by Gonzalez on June 30, and several of Hanlon’s friends.
Before the judge and the defendant entered the courtroom, a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy addressed the gallery.
“The judge has told me to ask,” she said to the crowd, “that nobody make any gestures. There will be no standing … no outbursts, no communication of any kind with the inmate while he is in the courtroom.”
Gonzalez is currently being held at the Polk County Jail. He was transferred to the Marion County Courthouse for his second arraignment. Marion County Sheriff’s deputies took Gonzalez into custody on July 13 on the sex abuse charges. In a separate matter, a Marion County grand jury unanimously found Gonzalez lawfully used deadly force when he shot and killed Hanlon while responding to a burglary call the night of June 30.
While Gonzalez no longer faces criminal charges in the shooting incident, he is still being held without bail on the sexual abuse allegations.
Marion County Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy is prosecuting the case.
After ruling on preliminary motions concerning Mark Obert continuing as Gonzalez’s counsel and publicly withholding the identity of the alleged victim, Ochoa asked Kemmy for the state’s recommendation concerning bail. Kemmy recounted the circumstances under which the alleged victim and her mother came forward.
Gonzalez, he said, slept in the Keizer home of the girl and her mother the night of July 11. On the morning of July 12, the mother noticed Gonzalez browsing the Internet and saying he needed to buy a new gun.
At this point in Kemmy’s speech, Gonzalez’s neutral countenance turned to a frown and he began shaking his head at his attorney. Olbert walked over to the glass enclosure where Gonzalez stood handcuffed and the two exchanged whispers.
Kemmy said when Gonzalez left the house to go to the Sportsman’s Warehouse, the girl and her mother went to the Keizer police. They told police they were scared Gonzalez was going to kill them and then take his own life, Kemmy said.
“We trusted him,” he said of Gonzalez. “We let him have a gun and a badge and trusted him to enforce the laws … He’s spent the last five years breaking those laws.”
According to the probable cause statement filed by the Keizer Police Department based on statements from the victim, Gonzalez abused her “conservatively” 60 times, allegedly beginning when the victim was 12 years old.
Kemmy asked Gonzalez be denied bail, arguing that he would be a danger to himself and others if he were released.
Obert began his response by citing the United States and Oregon constitutions, which feature protections from excessive bail.
“The state has not shown that Gonzalez will be a danger to the victim or members of the public,” he said.
Obert said Gonzalez has family and friends in the area where he could stay and that his service in the United State Marines and as a police officer speaks to his character.
After reviewing the probable cause statement, Ochoa denied Gonzalez’s request for bail.
Gonzalez left the courtroom without any comment.
The Heises and Hanlon’s friends quickly exited the courtroom, pursued by television and print reporters. They declined to comment.
Gonzalez is set to enter a plea at the Marion County Circuit Court Annex at 8:30 a.m. Aug 7, though Kemmy said the date may change.
