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Defense in child sex abuse case against Happy Valley pastor brings out the heavy artillery
By Rick Bella
The defense in the child sex abuse case against Happy Valley Pastor Mike Sperou opened Tuesday by calling on a former prosecutor who rejected the allegations in 1997. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl A. Albrecht limited what the jury could hear, ruling that former Deputy District Attorney Rodney Hopkinson's testimony could be prejudicial if he went into detail about why he declined to prosecute Sperou back then. Sperou, who leads the North Clackamas Bible Community, has been charged with three counts of first-degree sexual penetration. If convicted on all counts, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years, four months in prison. Seven women allege that Sperou sexually abused them when they were young girls growing up in the church during the 1980s and 1990s. The Oregonian/OregonLive generally does not disclose the names of possible sexual abuse victims, but all seven women connected with the case have come forward, asking that their stories be told. Prosecutor Chris Mascal called on all seven women to testify over five days before resting Monday. The women -- including Shannon Clark, the alleged victim in this case – all told the jury that Sperou took advantage of his position as church leader and abused them. On Tuesday, defense attorney Steven J. Sherlag began working to cast doubt on the women's stories. Former DA Hopkinson, now an assistant attorney general coordinating investigations into elder abuse and Medicare fraud, said he noted that police investigating the allegations didn't refer the girls to be interviewed by child abuse experts at CARES Northwest. Hopkinson also said that most of the girls' parents did not want a criminal case to go forward and that one of the alleged victims – in high school at the time – also wanted to drop the case. "If you've been a DA, you know what it takes to prosecute a case – or not," Hopkinson said. Meanwhile, Daniel Reisberg, a Reed College psychology professor who specializes in memory, testified that most people remember accurately most of the time. But sometimes, he said, people weave together bits of information over time, forgetting the sources. "You wind up having a memory that has been affected – in some ways contaminated – by things that happened afterward," Reisberg said. And if a lot of time goes by? "The sky's the limit," Reisberg said. However, under cross examination, Reisberg said, "In the clear majority of cases, our memories are accurate." Reisberg, a paid witness for the defense, also said, "False memories for touching and abuse can be created ... including sexual abuse." Bill Hartman, assistant pastor of the church, denied that his daughter -- Jessica Watson, one of the seven women -- ever discussed with him allegations of sex abuse against Sperou. He said he wasn't aware of the allegations until Sperou was arrested last year. In her questioning, Mascal has indirectly put the North Clackamas Bible Community on trial. Members of the small, conservative Christian church share expenses and live communally in a group of rental homes that straddle the city limits of Portland and Happy Valley. Sunday services, along with weekly Bible study and language classes, are held in the homes. The defense has said the church draws its strength from the extraordinary faith and commitment of its members, who are dedicated to biblical scholarship. Prosecution witnesses said the church went downhill when Sperou began drinking heavily, taking drugs, having affairs with the wives in church families and sexually abusing young girls. In 1997, Clark was among seven girls who alleged that Sperou had molested them. No charges were brought, however, because Hopkinson found that the girls' stories were inconsistent or vague. Fifteen years later, the girls – by then adult women – again took their complaints to police. After an investigation, authorities found that the statute of limitations had expired on all of the complaints except those raised by Clark, who brought up additional allegations not considered in 1997. The other six women were allowed to tell the jury about their own experiences with Sperou. But, Albrecht said, the jury is to consider the six women's testimony only to decide whether Sperou may have touched Clark accidentally or if it was part of an on-going pattern. Sherlag said he intends to base an appeal on Albrecht's ruling if Sperou is convicted. He said he may wrap up the defense case by Thursday. Contact: rbella@oregonian.com
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