On November 3, 2017, the Oregon Police Officers Association awarded the Distinguished Service Award to Chief Deputy District Attorney Kevin Barton, Detective Sergeant Troy Maslin (Forest Grove Police Department), and Detective Sergeant Terry McConnell (Columbus Ohio Police Department) in recognition for their work in bringing to justice a fugitive sex offender who molested his two biological daughters and avoided prosecution for over twenty five years.

OPOA provided the following statement regarding the award:

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

In January 1991, Forest Grove Police learned of a situation involving a father physically and sexually abusing his two teenage daughters. During the investigation, the father was indicted by a grand jury and he fled the state of Oregon. In 1992, the father was taken into custody in Kentucky but Washington County declined to extradite from Kentucky. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office at that time had strangely received written letters from the victims claiming that they weren’t completely honest about the allegations. The courts back then, chose to change the father’s warrant to a non-extraditable warrant, only to be servable in the Pacific Northwest.

For 25 years the father stayed clear of the Pacific Northwest. However, every couple of years the warrant would come up for review and the district attorney during those periods would keep it active; because of the child sex abuse allegations.

The victims were also moved out of the state by their mother so they could all live together with their father. This had been a common occurrence in these girls lives; always knowing abuse from their father. It was later discovered other states also had active warrants for the abusing father, but always the same story; the father would move his family out of reach of apprehension. Sadly, these young girls had slipped through the cracks of justice and grew up in the constant shadow of abuse. Over time, the two young victims attempted to move on with their lives, moving far away from their father, getting married and having children of their own.

In the early part of 2016, Washington County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kevin Barton had been assigned to review the warrant for renewal. Mr. Barton considers child abuse cases of very high importance and instead of just renewing the warrant, he started reviewing the case. Mr. Barton cared enough about this case to ask Detective Sergeant Troy Maslen to take a second look to see if something more could be done.

The original investigation had been done by investigators who had long since retired or passed away, so Sergeant Maslen had the daunting task of picking up a cold case and restarting the investigation. Just relocating the girls who had been victimized proved to be difficult. Sergeant Maslen had the additional difficult task of supporting the victims who lived thousands of miles away, separated in two different states, and assuring them that their testimony was valued. The investigation revealed the girls had been forced to write letters recanting their sexual abuse by their mother 25 years ago. With this new information, Mr. Barton reapplied for a nationwide extraditable warrant.

The girls’ abusive father and mother were found residing in Columbus, Ohio. Detective Sergeant Terry McConnell, of the Columbus Police Department, was briefed by Detective Sergeant Maslen on the investigation. Sgt. McConnell took a team of Officers and arrested the father. Sgt. McConnell conducted interviews, monitored jail phone calls and looked up old child abuse allegations spanning decades, involving the family from the 1980’s. Abuse allegations reports were found in South Carolina, Florida and the New England States. The father still to this day has a valid a warrant from the New England states for assaulting the youngest of his daughters.

While the abusive father was in custody in Ohio, the father was caught telling his wife to compel the girls to write new factitious letters, like they had done in 1992. In September of 2016, the father was extradited to Oregon. In November of 2016 the father pled guilty to the sexual abuse of his daughters. Because this case had occurred 25 years ago, and before Measure 11, the sentencing considerations were used from that time period. The convicted father ultimately was sentenced to 74 months in prison. The young women who had spent a life time waiting for someone to believe them, who needed someone to fight for them, had finally found the justice they so desperately deserved. Their story, like many others, is why the State of Oregon has such strong laws to protect children.

This case exemplifies individuals who believe in finding justice for victims, who challenged status quo, and work hard to seek the truth. The work reflected by Chief Deputy District Attorney Kevin Barton, Detective Sergeant Troy Maslen and Detective Sergeant Terry McConnell; demonstrated loyal dedication to their profession and has brought great credit upon themselves and their agencies (The Washington County District Attorney’s Office, The Forest Grove Police Department and The Columbus Police Department).

THE OREGON PEACE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION IS PROUD TO PRESENT CHIEF DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY KEVIN BARTON, DETECTIVE SERGEANT TROY MASLEN, AND DETECTIVE SERGEANT TERRY MCCONNELL WITH THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD.