A former Boy Scout mentor from Vancouver was sentenced Monday to nearly five years in prison for sexually abusing a Boy Scout over a period of at least three years.
Shawn E. Turner, 22, of Vancouver pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court on May 29 to attempted second-degree child rape. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges of one count of second-degree child rape and two counts of third-degree child rape.
The abuse began when the victim was 13, according to court records. However, the victim’s father said Monday that Turner began “grooming” his son for the abuse when his son was 11. The victim was a Boy Scout in a local troop, the victim’s father said.
Judge John Nichols gave Turner the minimum sentence under the state’s standard guidelines. He rejected a request from Turner’s attorney, David Schultz, for a treatment-based alternative.
“In this case, the one thing I can’t get over is the force involved,” Nichols explained.
The state’s special sex offender sentencing alternative would have allowed Turner to serve only 12 months in Clark County Jail and to undertake a sex offender treatment program. Only defendants without prior sexual offense convictions are eligible for the alternative.
Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Robinson opposed giving Turner the treatment alternative. Robinson said Turner abused his position of trust and now blames the victim for it.
“In the pre-sentence investigation, the defendant says this only happened because of the victim’s advances,” Robinson said.
Schultz said Turner’s age and lack of criminal history made him a good candidate for the sentencing alternative.
“I know what I did was wrong,” Turner said. “I do believe SSOSA (special sex offender sentencing alternative) is something that can help me. I feel given the chance … I can turn my life around and not keep coming in and out of courtrooms.”
The victim’s father said Turner preyed on his son and asked the judge not to consider the sentencing alternative. He wanted the judge to sentence Turner to the maximum, which is more than six years.
Court records say the first two sexual encounters between Turner and the victim were in 2008 and 2009 in Oregon. Over time, the abuse allegedly escalated from fondling to rape.
One of the rapes occurred in April 2010 in a wooded area near where Turner and the victim were attending a Boy Scout camporee at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, according to court records. Another rape is alleged to have happened in April 2011 at another camping trip somewhere in Clark County. The last rape occurred outside the house of the victim’s mother in Clark County, and it involved physical force, court records say. The victim was 16 years old then.
Turner was arrested in March on suspicion of the rapes after the victim disclosed the alleged abuse to his mother, according to court records. Under state law, second-degree rape involves sexual penetration with a victim between the ages of 12 and 14 when the defendant is at least three years older than the victim. Third-degree rape is committed against a victim between the ages of 14 and 16 when the defendant is at least four years older than the victim.
