Sunday, July 13, 2008

Officer Killed Irish National Now Charged with Sexually Abuse

PORTLAND, Ore.

The Silverton police officer who shot and killed an Irish national while responding to a burglary complaint last month has been jailed on accusations he sexually abused a girl, Marion County authorities said.

Officer Tony Gonzalez, 35, was arrested Sunday and is being held without bail on multiple counts of sexual abuse, Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy said.

His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

Kemmy said a woman and her daughter in Keizer — 12 miles west of Silverton — reported the abuse to officers there on Saturday. The case was assigned to the nearby Salem Police Department, and detectives from that agency arrested Gonzalez without incident.

Kemmy declined to release the name or age of the alleged victim, or say if the abuse occurred recently.

It was not immediately known if Gonzalez has a lawyer. He joined the department in 2006 and got his police certification in March of last year.

He is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Andrew Hanlon, a 20-year-old Irishman who died June 30.

Kemmy stressed that the investigations into the shooting and the sex abuse will remain separate.

The district attorney's office has released few details about its investigation into Hanlon's death, which has generated wide publicity and outrage in Ireland.

Hanlon had been in Silverton for about a year and had overstayed his six-month visitor's visa. Hanlon's sister and brother-in-law live in the town of 7,000.

Hanlon's family declined to comment about the officer's arrest.

"As much as we would like to comment, we can't right now on advice of our attorney," said Hanlon's brother in law, Nathan Heise.

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