FLORENCE — The former director of the Oregon Coast Military Museum in Florence was sentenced Tuesday to five years probation for the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl.
Geoffrey Cannon, 27, was indicted on four counts of second-degree sexual abuse, but he agreed to plead guilty to just one of them.
That charge could have carried up to five years in prison and $125,000 fine, but the court found “substantial and compelling reasons” to sentence below the recommended range.
In exchange for a lesser sentence, Cannon will register as a sex offender and have no contact with minors without the prior permission of a probation officer, among other conditions.
According to the victim’s mother, the abuse occurred at the museum over the course of a year. She told the Register-Guard Tuesday that the lack of prison time was unreasonable, and the sentencing “felt like a slap in the face.”
TheOregon Coast Military Museum closed after Cannon’s indictment and the resignation of his father, Gary Cannon, from the board after the elder Cannon defended his son’s actions and blamed the victim.
The museum has replaced some board of directors, is reorganizing and plans to reopen, according to a news release in September.
— KLCC News
Probation for longterm sexual abuse of a minor?! How about he gets out of prison when she is “over” the abuse?
I am appalled at this sentence
Although the exact circumstances that led to this sentence are unknown the fact that he is a predator who abused a 15 yo girl for a year should have been enough to put him in prison. People, men mostly, who “only look at child porn on the computer”, get five years in prison plus 10 years supervision. At least at the federal level. What’s with Oregon’s sentencing rules?