David William Hutson Jr., DOB 9/16/1988, was sentenced on a charge of Rape of a Child in the Second Degree. Several years ago, when he was seventeen, he engaged in a sexual relationship with a 12 year old child. He received a sentence of 78 months to life.

Jason Lee Dethloff, DOB 2/9/1973, was sentenced on 2 counts of Rape of a Child in the First Degree. He received a sentence of 160 months to life.

It is important to recognize that these are indeterminate sentences. This means that a person will serve the number of months provided by the judgment as a minimum, and then come up before a sentence review board. The board will make a decision as to whether they are likely to re-offend. If the board decides that a person is likely to re-offend, the board will establish a new minimum sentence which they must serve. A sentence under this provision may result in a life sentence, if the review board decides a person is more likely than not to commit further sex offenses.

t present, there are fewer than 10 child sex abuse cases in the Prosecutors office. Every one of these cases is in process. Some have been charged and are being prepared for trial; some are in the process of review and evaluation for trial. None are being ignored. Our office is working every single one of these cases. I have assigned Scot Stuart, our most experienced deputy, to handle these cases which are the most difficult of all our cases. He is having good results and works closely with the dedicated staff at the Family Support Center. They are available to assist victims and families in these terrible circumstances. They are can be reached at 509-684-8421.

There is a huge problem regarding these cases in our county. There are over 50 child sex abuse cases that are under investigation by the Sheriff’s office which have not been turned over to us for prosecution. Some of these are old, some are current, but all are still under investigation. This is not the result of a lack of effort on the Sheriff’s office. It is a result of the lack of manpower to investigate these cases while still providing the other services the Sheriff’s Office must provide. This is a hidden crisis in our county.