Child molester gets 20 years after girl confides in Portland cop who gave talk at her school

A 34-year-old  Portland man  was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls -- after one of the girls approached...

A 34-year-old Portland man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls -- after one of the girls approached a Portland police officer who’d given a presentation at her school.

The officer, Heidi Kreis, had talked to students about recognizing and reporting sexual harassment in December 2018. After Kreis was done, the girl told her that Jonathon Paul Rogers had been groping her breasts and her buttocks.

Jonathon Paul Rogers (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)

The girl also said the abuse had been going on for years, since she was about 6, and he was still at it. She said she knew Rogers had been targeting another girl, too, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the prosecution.

The girl’s report set off an investigation. When extensively questioned, both girls disclosed that the abuse was even worse than first described: Rogers had raped or sexually abused them in other ways. Rogers admitted to a detective that he molested the girls.

More than a year later, in March, Rogers pleaded pleaded guilty to first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and attempted first-degree unlawful sexual penetration. The girls’ mother attended Friday’s sentencing in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Under Jessica’s Law, which is meant to punish offenders who commit certain sex crimes against children under age 12, Rogers could have received a minimum 25 years in prison but more than 100 years if convicted of all 11 charges against him.

Kreis was a school resource officer assigned to the girl’s school in late 2018.

Last week, Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero announced the school district would no longer staff police officers in its schools. The decision came amid daily protests over the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, racism and police brutality. Some activists say money that was spent on school resource officers should pay for more counselors and school staff who are racial minorities.