Bend Man Extradited From Thailand To Face Child Exploitation And Drug Charges In Deschutes County (Photo) -08/04/25
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sergeant Thomas Lillenthal, Digital Forensics, ICAC
Deschutes County Sheriff's Office
Phone: (541) 480-6960
Arrestee: Simon Lesley Hannes, 37-year-old Male
Charges:
- 2x Using a Child in Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct ORS 163.670
- 10x Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in the First Degree ORS 163.684
- 1x Luring a Minor ORS 167.057
- 12x Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in the Second Degree ORS 163.686
- 1x Failure to Appear ORS 162.205
- 1x Unlawful Manufacturing of a Schedule I Controlled Substance ORS 475.752(1)(a)
- 1x Unlawful Possession of Psilocybin ORS 475.752(7)(a)(B)
In February 2024, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit received an ICAC Cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The Cybertip detailed an unknown user who shared imagery of Child Sexual Abuse Material on the chat application Discord within Deschutes County. ICAC Detectives began investigating this Cybertip and determined that the person operating the account was Simon Lesley Hannes of Bend.
On March 7th, 2024, Hannes was contacted, and a search warrant was conducted to seize digital devices from Hannes and his residence. During the execution of this search warrant, it was discovered that Hannes was actively growing a substantial quantity of dried and actively growing psilocybin mushrooms in his residence, along with multiple firearms. ICAC Detectives were assisted by the Deschutes County Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement (DCIMME) teams in the proper seizure of these items.
Hannes was placed under arrest for 1 count each of Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in the First and Second Degree, Unlawful Manufacturing of a Schedule I Controlled Substance, and Unlawful Possession of Psilocybin and lodged at the Deschutes County Adult Jail.
In the following weeks, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensics Lab (DFL) analyzed devices seized from Hannes. Digital Forensics Detectives discovered that Hannes had communicated sexually with a juvenile female and also obtained sexual images of this juvenile female for purposes of sexual gratification, as well as several multimedia items on his devices that depicted the sexual abuse of children on the devices, and were shared in conversations discussing the sexual abuse of children. After a grand jury indictment, Hannes was placed back under arrest on March 20th, 2024, for the rest of the above-listed child sex crimes and lodged at the Deschutes County Adult Jail.
While awaiting the trial date for this case, ICAC Detectives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned that Simon Hannes was currently in Florida. Hannes’s pretrial release conditions explicitly stated that he was not to leave Oregon. Hannes failed to appear for his April 2025 trial dates for his original arrests, as detectives were investigating the reasons he was in Florida. They refocused their investigation into locating Hannes, determining that he had fled the country and was now in Thailand.
In May of 2025, ICAC detectives isolated Hannes’s location in Thailand and coordinated with the FBI and law enforcement authorities in Thailand to take Hannes into custody. Hannes was held in custody in Thailand until extradited to the United States by the US Marshals Service. On July 25th, 2025, Hannes was transported back into custody at the Deschutes County Adult Jail.
On July 28th, 2025, Hannes went before the court in Deschutes County and was given a $1.15-million-dollar pretrial bail, partly due to fleeing the country.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the FBI for their continuing partnership in our fight to protect children in Deschutes County, the Thailand Law Enforcement for their cooperation and swift apprehension of Hannes, and the US Marshals Service for their assistance in extraditing Hannes to the United States.
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