Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

Sentencing next week for W. Richland man who admits sex abuse of teen

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer

He claims it started with Sears catalogs as a youth, then escalated as he discovered the rampant pornography on the internet.

Matthew Adam McCracken says he hid his "deep dark secret" until those sexual cravings led him to manipulate a young teen girl for his "sick and perverted fantasies."

The allegation of rape in 2008 "brought to light the darkest side of an addiction that I have struggled with for years," McCracken, 37, told state Department of Corrections staff for a presentencing report. "I have always been drawn to pornography for as long as I can remember."

The West Richland man pleaded guilty nearly four months ago and faces sentencing Thursday for second-degree child molestation, sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

While McCracken and friends say he's accepted "full responsibility" for his actions and is remorseful, others believe he's only shown self-pity and frustration at being caught and continues to blame the victim.

McCracken has said he is glad it's now out in the open so he can get help. He and his family are asking the judge for leniency by granting a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative instead of a lengthy prison term.

Police aren't buying it. They cite McCracken's alleged attempts since his arrest to get the victim to change her story and his denial in jail phone calls to loved ones that he did anything wrong, even after pleading guilty.

To all who say this was out of character for McCracken, West Richland Police Chief Layne Erdman said, "There is no profile to an offender. They don't have a look. They don't come from the same family."

He added, "You can't look at your neighbors and know what they do and don't do."

Prosecutors plan to argue for a five-year, one-month prison term because of the gravity of the crimes. Investigation into the sexual assault led to the discovery not only of explicit photos of the girl, but also hundreds of child porn images on McCracken's computer.

Officials with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children helped police identify images from nine known pornography series, originating in Washington, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, as well as England, Germany, Norway and Brazil.

Richland Detective Bob Benson, who specializes in computer forensics, spent months retrieving and analyzing thousands of files stored on McCracken's computer.

"When the perpetrators of this type of crime look at the pictures, they don't look at the children as victims. They look at them as willing participants in those pictures," said West Richland Detective Clark Boyer, lead investigator in McCracken's case.

"These kids would not have done what they've done unless they were led down the path by someone" in a position of trust, Boyer said. And each time a picture or video is viewed, that child is victimized again, he said.

McCracken's case came to light in December 2008 when school officials reported to Child Protective Services that the teen had sex with an older man. She then revealed that seven months earlier she had been sexually assaulted and the suspect had taken pictures of the assault.

Benton County court documents say McCracken bought the girl a vibrator and took her to a park on May 23, 2008. He then ordered her to pose on playground equipment while using the sex toy.

She told police she was scared he would hurt her if she didn't comply.

McCracken later told Joe Perez, a Kennewick community corrections officer who prepared the court background report, that when he transferred the pictures to his computer he realized "how horrible my actions were" and deleted them.

But investigators found those pictures, along with earlier ones taken of the girl in suggestive positions, on his computer. And when McCracken became suspicious of a police investigation, he tried to stop a family member from taking his computer, "stating that there were things on it that will send him to prison," court documents said.

McCracken was arrested Dec. 12 and has been in the Benton County jail since late March. He is being held on $200,000 bail.

Benton County prosecutors initially thought it would be best for the case to be prosecuted federally because of the child porn. But they opted to keep it when they learned the child rape charge likely wouldn't be pursued federally and they felt the local victim should be represented.

Prosecutor Andy Miller praised Boyer and Benson for finding the evidence and uncovering the porn on the computer. "I think what made our case strong was the child pornography," he said.

Miller also noted there were "a lot of challenges in the case, mainly the pressure against the victim" to testify.

The victim, in a letter to the Department of Corrections, said it "takes a lot of stress away" knowing McCracken is behind bars. But Perez wrote that he believes she was pressured to send a revised letter the next day asking that McCracken instead receive counseling.

Perez has recommended a prison sentence within the standard range for the crimes. He said although that won't address McCracken's need for treatment, it will give maximum protection to the victim, her family and the community.

Perez followed with a supplemental report in August after reviewing an evaluation of McCracken completed by Richard Cornish, a certified sex offender treatment provider in Kennewick.

Cornish said McCracken showed low risk to re-offend sexually. He wrote that the only thing that stood out was McCracken agreed with a statement that "sometimes victims initiate sexual activity."

While McCracken has tried to minimize his behavior, he also has expressed empathy and would be a good candidate for a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, Cornish concluded. That usually carries a jail sentence of up to a year and at least three years of treatment.

Cornish also suggested McCracken be ordered not to access the internet or possess porn, and to have no unsupervised contact with children under 18 or other vulnerable individuals.

Perez stood by his stance that McCracken go to prison.

"The Department of Corrections does not believe Mr. McCracken has shown remorse or accepted the damage he has created," Perez wrote in response. "This can be reflected by his pending charge of tampering with a witness, which involved him ... trying to persuade the victim of his crime to recant her disclosure. Again, attempting to manipulate and further victimize her."

About a dozen relatives and friends of McCracken have written the sentencing judge to support the treatment sentence. Those letters describe the journeyman plumber as a man who's made sacrifices to support his wife and children, and as a "very honest and loyal friend."

Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Johnson said in her plea statement that she will oppose a minimal sentence.

McCracken's plea deal included reducing a charge of second-degree child rape to second-degree child molestation to spare the victim from having to testify.

And a separate but related case of witness tampering will be dismissed once McCracken is sentenced, Johnson said.

-- Kristin M. Kraemer: 582-1531; kkraemer@tricityherald.com