Terry Bean can’t buy his way out of trouble.

Politically-connected fundraiser to the President, Portland big shot Terry Bean, is accused of having sex with a 15 year old boy in a hotel in Eugene in 2013.  Bean is charged with felony sodomy among other charges.

Whether the victim wants to testify or not–and as much of a staunch advocate for victims as I am–an abuser settling with his victim should never get him out of criminal charges.  You can’t buy the criminal justice system in America (at least you shouldn’t be able to).

Moreover, according to the Oregonian, Bean has other past “indiscretions” that apparently did not result in charges:

Prosecutor Scott Healy opposed the civil compromise and offered detailed account of Bean’s sexual encounter with three teenage males — two of the incidents happened more than 20 years ago — in court filings.

If these allegations are true (and there’s no way of knowing beyond the prosecutor’s statements here, so that has to be taken with a grain of salt), such a history would suggest that sweeping these charges under the rug is not in the best interests of public safety.  Were there similar civil compromises in the past?

It’s nice to see that money can’t buy everything in this State, even for the politically connected.