FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

JANUARY 18, 2019

Zachary Thomas Turner receives 16 year prison sentence for committing sex crimes against two children

Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced that 24-year-old Zachary Thomas Turner received a 16 year prison sentence following a sex crimes investigation conducted by the Portland Police Bureau’s Family Services Division.

On March 8, 2018, the defendant pleaded guilty to rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, attempted sodomy in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree.

By pleading guilty, Turner admitted that between March 2009 and March 2015, in Multnomah County, he raped and engaged in deviate sexual intercourse with a female child. Furthermore, he admitted to knowingly subjecting a second female child to unwanted touching and that he attempted to engage in deviate sexual intercourse with her.

During this investigation, law enforcement learned that Turner was a babysitter for the two victims. He is not related to either.

Turner was sentenced by Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Souede. During that hearing, a family member of the two victims spoke about the lasting trauma both victims will endure as a result of the repeated abuse.

Turner gave a full confession to law enforcement during the investigation, according to statements made during Friday’s sentencing hearing.

In court on Friday, the defendant apologized to the victims, admitted that he had taken advantage of his role as their babysitter, betrayed their trust “in the worst way possible,” and that he caused lasting physical and emotional trauma for the victims and their family.

Turner is now required to register as a sex offender.

This case was prosecuted by Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Amity Girt and the Multnomah County Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team, which includes representatives from local law enforcement, public schools, hospitals, courts, health departments, the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Oregon Department of Employment Child Care Division.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team is responsible for reviewing and coordinating all child abuse and neglect cases in Multnomah County. The team also handles all child homicides, felony child physical abuse cases, felony child abandonment cases, custodial interference cases, and felony sex crimes where the victim is currently under the age of 18 and where the perpetrator is determined not to be a stranger to the child.

#MCDA#

Contact: Brent Weisberg, Communications Director

Phone: 503.988.6567

Email: Brent.Weisberg@mcda.us