Briefly
GP man sentenced to nearly 3 years in prison
A Grants Pass man accused of duplicating child sexual abuse material was sentenced Thursday to nearly three years in prison.
Brian Scott Arney, 60, also was placed on three years of post-prison supervision for his guilty plea in Josephine County Circuit Court to three of 11 counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree.
There were few details about the case in court records, only that Arney was accused of duplicating photos of CSAM onto memory cards and flash drives.
Charging documents did say there were two different victims. The activity occurred over a period from August 2019 to January 2023, according to court records.
CSAM, short for child sexual abuse material, is a term that is thought to better describe the reality of what is commonly known as child pornography.
Arney did not have a prior criminal history in Oregon, according to court records. His sentence is for 35 months in prison, or two years and 11 months.
Eugene Weekly raises $22,000 from public
EUGENE — A weekly newspaper that laid off its entire staff and stopped printing has raised $22,000 thus far toward balancing its books.
A GoFundMe drive set up to benefit Eugene Weekly has a goal of $188,000.
About a week before Christmas, Eugene Weekly found inaccuracies in its bookkeeping, editor Camilla Mortensen said. It discovered that a former employee who was "heavily involved" with the paper's finances had used its bank account to pay themselves $90,000 since at least 2022, she said.
The paper also became aware of at least $100,000 in unpaid bills — including to the paper's printer — stretching back several months, she said.
The Eugene police department's financial crimes unit is investigating.
— Staff and wire reports
1 killed, 2 injured in 9-car pileup Wednesday on Interstate 5
CENTRAL POINT — One person was killed and two injured in a nine-vehicle pileup on Interstate 5 near Central Point that disrupted traffic on the freeway for hours Wednesday, Oregon State Police said.
The victim was identified as Douglas James Flood, 81, of Gold Hill.
OSP said Flood was in an older model Toyota Tercel that was caught up in a chain-reaction of crashes that occurred at 5:27 p.m. on the northbound side of I-5 near milepost 35.
The pileup began when a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Helen Marie Cain, 64, of Central Point crashed into the center wire barrier for unknown reasons.
Nine vehicles total were involved in the pileup. Most of the drivers were from the Rogue Valley. Most escaped injury, OSP said.
In addition to Flood, who died following transport to a local hospital, Cain and another driver, a 38-year-old woman from Grants Pass, were taken to the hospital.
Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, OSP said. Flood had not been wearing a seat belt, the agency said.
Wolf Creek woman sentenced to 18 months for car theft
A woman accused of opportunistically stealing a car after she found the keys in the door was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison.
Tesla Eliouse Jinks, 27, of Wolf Creek also was placed on one year of post-prison supervision for her guilty plea in Josephine County Circuit Court to a charge of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Prosecutors said Jinks found the keys in the door of a car on E Street in downtown Grants Pass on Nov. 14, stole them, then came back a day later and stole the car.
Both incidents were caught on surveillance cameras, prosecutors said.
The make of the car was not noted in court records.
Evidence linking Jinks to the theft and not merely the possession of a stolen car included she was wearing the same shoes seen in the surveillance video.
Jinks has a growing criminal record that includes prior convictions for drugs, criminal trespassing, car theft and criminal mischief.
In 2020, she was convicted of aggravated harassment for spitting in the face of a sheriff's deputy investigating a complaint about disorderly conduct in Wolf Creek.
Man sentenced to 4-plus years for attempted sexual abuse
A man accused of trying to pay a 7-year-old girl for sexual favors at Caveman Bowl was sentenced Thursday to just over four years in prison.
Edward Ray Benavente, 79, of Grants Pass also was placed on three years of post-prison supervision for his guilty plea in Josephine County Circuit Court to two counts of attempted first-degree sexual abuse.
Prosecutors said Benavente was caught on camera and later admitted to bribing the girl and a family friend with "game credits" in exchange for "special hugs."
They called his behavior "textbook grooming," but reduced charges in the case from 75 months to 50 months because of his age, his lack of criminal record, and to spare his daughter and the victim having to testify at trial.