Portland protest leader Micah Rhodes is back in jail on allegations that he violated terms of his probation by having contact with minors.
Rhodes, 24, was ordered to stay away from anyone under 18 years old after he was convicted this year on three counts of second-degree sexual abuse for having illicit sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl in Washington County and a 17-year-old boy in Multnomah County. The sexual abuse occurred in 2014 and 2015, and Rhodes was 20 and 21 years old at the time.
Washington County Circuit Judge Janelle Wipper and Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jerry Hodson decided in separate hearings not to sentence Rhodes to two to 2 ½ -years in prison, as state sentencing guidelines recommended. Instead, the judges ordered five years of probation for Rhodes with a long list of conditions, including that he was forbidden from being around children without the prior permission of his probation officer.
Last Wednesday, Rhodes was arrested and brought to the Multnomah County Detention Center on accusations that he had been in the presence of children. On Thursday, he was transferred to Washington County Jail, where he remains.
He's scheduled to appear before Wipper on Wednesday. If the judge finds that he violated the terms of his probation, she could choose from a wide range of punishment -- running from a verbal reprimand to revoking his probation and sending him to prison for two or more years.
The circumstances of Rhodes' alleged contact with children are unclear. Court papers don't offer details. But a YouTube video posted by blogger Robert West on June 22 shows a man who appears to be Rhodes at a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Southwest Portland. He is standing on top of a canopy next to the trolley tracks, with dozens of protesters nearby on the ground.
The title of West's video states that there are children at the protest.
The video appears to be taken after Rhodes was sentenced in May in Washington County but before he was sentenced earlier this month in Multnomah County. At Rhodes' sentencing hearing in Multnomah County, he said he was committed to following court orders.
"I have atoned for what I've done," Rhodes said. "I've acknowledged that I made mistakes. I reported them myself."
He said he has a new home, a good job and a drive to help people.
"That's what's important to me. It's the only thing that's important to me," Rhodes said.
Rhodes was a leader of the protest group Portland's Resistance, which rose to prominence after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November 2016. The group helped organize day after day of marches and rallies against Trump.
Before then, Rhodes was part of Portland's activist scene and a familiar face at Portland City Council meetings. In 2016, he helped stage a camp-out in front of then-Mayor Charlie Hales' home.
Aimee Green writes about Multnomah County Circuit Court. She has been on staff at The Oregonian since 2000, covering jails and prisons, among other beats. Reach her at agreen@oregonian.com
2. I know it's de rigueur to refer to adolescents including anyone under whatever the local age of majority may be, as "children", but they are minors, not children.
3. There could be a connection between someone's political views and activities, and their personal choices, especially illegal ones, but I'm not seeing the Antifa - underage sex connection.
Anifa lives or dies on its own merits; let's discuss it separately. Since we are encouraged by the media everywhere to disrespect, even despise Anitfa, such dodgy connections as publised above are nothing but a garden variety smear. Shame on The Oregonian, and on SOTT for republishing it.