Scouring court files requires some persistence.

Byline: SUSAN PALMER The Register-Guard

Criminal records are public documents and available for free to anyone who has time to go look up the information at the Lane County Courthouse.

Court files explain in detail the crime, the court proceeding, the sentence, even whether any fines levied have been paid.

But online, the information often appears cryptic. Entering a person's name into the court database that OPEN Online purchases and sells to its clients will call up a screen with several headings.

Sorting through them can confuse someone not familiar with the system. Case number, offense, date charged, case filed date, trial schedule date, current plea, disposition, disposition date and final order are just some of the headings. Some records are easier to follow than others.

Looking up former Scout leader Steven Jeremy Freeman in the court database, for example, shows 32 separate offense headings that include sodomy and first-degree sex abuse. It also indicates a scheduled trial date of Aug. 18.

For Hult Center usher Myron Charles Chase, the record shows two offenses - one count of first-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse.

Under the disposition heading, it indicates that the first-degree sex abuse charge was dismissed. Someone would have to continue scrolling down the screen past more headings to get to the disposition on the third-degree charge: guilty.

Familiarity with the Oregon penal code also matters.

For example, a volunteer coach's recent assertion to his Kidsports supervisor that his second-degree rape charge involved consensual sex with a 16-year-old would have been an instant red flag to someone who knows the code.

Second-degree rape is the charge when the victim is younger than 14. For 16-year-olds, the charge would have been third-degree rape.

SUSPECTS FACE MULTIPLE CHARGES

A rash of arrests of local men has heightened awareness of sexual abuse.

Steven Jeremy Freeman, former Scout leader charged with 32 counts of abuse in connection with nine children ages 7 to 14.

Myron Charles Chase, former usher pleaded guilty to fondling two girls ages 10 and 14 in separate incidents at the Hult Center.

Mikal Allan Krummel, detention worker charged with abusing three girls ages 13 to 15 over four years at the old Skipworth Detention Center and the new Juvenile Justice Center.

Bill Wolf, Looking Glass Youth & Family Services counselor charged with interstate distribution of child pornography and trying to induce a child to engage in illegal sexual conduct.

NEW LAW

While Oregon statutes require criminal history checks for those who work with children in publicly funded agencies, there are no such regulations for privately funded nonprofit agencies.

But more groups began doing background checks in the 1990s, spurred by the growing awareness of child sex abuse crimes.

To help such organizations, Congress passed the Volunteers for Children Act in 1998, which for the first time allowed nonprofit agencies working with children, the elderly and disabled adults access to the FBI's fingerprint-based criminal history registry.

IN OREGON: The state didn't begin to provide that access to nonprofit agencies until this year after passing its own law, House Bill 2884, which went into effect in January.

Like the national act, state law permits groups to do a fingerprint-based records check, through the Identification Services office of the Oregon State Police. The state waives the fees for those who provide tutoring and mentoring nine months of the year.

Since the law passed, 43 nonprofit agencies have requested background checks and 25 have qualified to have the fees waived.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about requesting a records check, visit www.osp.state.or.us.

CAPTION(S):

NEW LAW While Oregon statutes require criminal history checks for those who work with children in publicly funded agencies, there are no such regulations for privately funded nonprofit agencies. But more groups began doing background checks in the 1990s, spurred by the growing awareness of child sex abuse crimes. To help such organizations, Congress passed the Volunteers for Children Act in 1998, which for the first time allowed nonprofit agencies working with children, the elderly and disabled adults access to the FBI's fingerprint-based criminal history registry. IN OREGON: The state didn't begin to provide that access to nonprofit agencies until this year after passing its own law, House Bill 2884, which went into effect in January. Like the national act, state law permits groups to do a fingerprint-based records check, through the Identification Services office of the Oregon State Police. The state waives the fees for those who provide tutoring and mentoring nine months of the year. Since the law passed, 43 nonprofit agencies have requested background checks and 25 have qualified to have the fees waived. FOR MORE INFORMATION about requesting a records check, visit www.osp.state.or.us.