Former OHS teacher sentenced

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:08 AM PST

VALE — A former Ontario High School teacher was sentenced in Malheur County Circuit Court Monday after he pleaded guilty in September to seven charges of online sexual corruption of a child in the second degree.

Joseph Tracy Garner was sentenced to 36 months supervised probation; ordered to complete a sex offender treatment program, which includes conditions of his probation that don’t allow for any contact of children except as it is approved by his treatment provider; it also stipulated he cannot have the Internet or use it at his home; provide transcripts to his treatment provider of court records; complete 30 days of work crew; and pay a $1,500 fine, $1,000 of which was suspended, Malheur County Deputy District Attorney Erin Landis said.

Landis said Garner must also register as a sex offender in the future. He said the sentence also came with the stipulation, if Garner is employed in the future, his probation officer must be able to access and monitor any use of the Internet. Garner also had to complete a polygraph and disclose any information regarding potential sexual contact he may have had with a minor prior to his sentencing.

Landis said the sentence was issued with the understanding he did those things satisfactorily. The transcripts are being submitted to the treatment provider to help develop a suitable program, Landis said.

“It helps the treatment provider determine what kind of treatment’s needed,” he said.

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How long Garner is in treatment for depends on how soon he accomplishes the goals set by the treatment provider.

Garner, 42, was indicted Aug. 14 after he was arrested Aug. 13. The charges stemmed from a three-month investigation that began with a private organization that specializes in identifying potential sexual predators online through use of decoys.

The private organization started its investigation in May after a person, whom police later identified as Garner, contacted a decoy acting as a 13-year-old Oregon girl on a MySpace account and initiated explicit conversations of a sexual nature. The organization notified Oregon State Police in June, when, through the online conversations, the suspect tried to arrange a physical meeting with the girl for the purposes of sexual gratification of some nature, which is a C felony crime in Oregon. The communications were traced back to Garner’s computer account.