A federal appeals panel has ruled that an Oregon court violated the constitutional rights of a child-pornography defendant when it sentenced him to a long stretch in prison based, in part, on statements he made during sex offender treatment.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the 20-year sentence of Richard R. Bahr Jr. and remanded his case to the court of U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown, who handed down his original sentence.
The panel held that Brown's consideration of "compelled statements made by the defendant in the course of sex offender treatment during an earlier period of post-prison supervision violated his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination."
"Because the district court erroneously considered Bahr's statements made during an earlier period of post-prison supervision, we vacate the sentence and remand," the appellate panel wrote.
Bahr, a former resident of Wasco County, is now serving his time at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Ariz. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons lists his release date at April 8, 2028.
The 32-year-old prisoner was convicted of the third-degree rape of a child under Oregon law in 2003 and was required to complete an approved sex offender treatment program after his release from prison, according to Friday's 9th Circuit opinion.
"Bahr was ... required to take a 'full disclosure' polygraph test regarding his sexual history," the appeals panel wrote. "During the test, he revealed that, as a minor, he had sexual contact with six other minors. He also revealed that, as an adult, he had sexual contact with seven different minors."
Bahr also revealed that had at least eight sexual encounters with girls of 15 or 16 when he was between 18 and 20, according to the opinion. "In another portion of the treatment program, Bahr admitted in a workbook that he had sexually abused 18 children."
On Jan. 25, 2011, a federal grand jury in Portland handed up a two-count indictment that accused Bahr of possessing child pornography in the summer of 2010, having previously been convicted of the third-degree rape. Brown sentenced him on June 5, 2012, to 20 years on each count, but allowed the sentences to run concurrently.
It's unclear when Bahr will be resentenced, or whether his sentence will be changed. ..Source.. by Bryan Denson
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