Tina Ketcham, a 40-year-old woman from Oregon, has been charged with raping an underage kid hundreds of times. She was arrested and charged with six charges of first-degree rape, two instances of first-degree sex abuse, one act of first-degree sodomy, and six additional sex offenses after prosecutors claimed she victimised an adolescent child she knew.
In Oregon, first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, and first-degree sex abuse are “measure 11” offenses with mandatory minimum prison penalties of many years. Ketcham, who pled not guilty, faced additional counts, which meant she faced a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
This is a circumstance where hundreds of charges might have been made, Prosecutor Keith Stein told a judge in Albany, Oregon, during a hearing. He said that the allegations Ketcham was facing were only a portion of the alleged abuse she conducted over a five-year period before her victim was able to contact police and report what was happening.
Although detectives did not reveal Ketcham’s relationship to her claimed victim in order to safeguard his identity, they did state he was known to her at the time of the assault. Ketcham maintained his innocence and sought to be released on bail. Her lawyer, Stephen Doyle, said Ketcham’s ownership of a local business made her a minimal flight risk. She had no criminal record, and her lawyer claimed that giving her bond would allow her to undergo treatment sessions. The judge did not appear to concur.
The court declined to modify Ketcham’s bond from $350,000 to $50,000 at her bail hearing, according to the Albany Democrat-Herald. While she faced decades in prison if convicted of the allegations against her and probably more, Ketcham would not spend much more time in prison. She was discovered dead in her Linn County Jail cell.
At 5:10 a.m. this morning, correctional deputies discovered Tina Ketcham hanging in her cell and unconscious, Linn County Sheriff Jim Yon told. Deputies entered the jail quickly, activated medics, and started life-saving procedures. At 05:18 a.m., Albany Fire Department paramedics reached the scene and declared Ms. Ketcham deceased.
Tina Ketcham committed suicide in her jail cell little over two weeks after being arrested on several child sex allegations. This should not have been a shock. Ketcham has tried to commit suicide since the Albany police inquiry began. Sheriff Yon stated that she had not displayed any symptoms of discomfort while in custody. So, despite being in protective custody and in a cell by herself — most likely because to how other convicts would react – she was not on suicide watch.
If they have an individual who is giving them those signals, Yon stated, they will be placed on suicide watch. Ketcham’s counsel objected, claiming that his client “certainly” should have been placed on suicide watch. But is that what a jail is for? Some say that it is not a place where criminals are kept secure from themselves, instead a place where they are kept safe from the rest of them. Nevertheless, I doubt many tears will be shed for an accused pedophile who committed herself instead of face justice for her claimed misdeeds.
