2 Oregon men convicted of child sex crimes in Lane County

Two men were individually sentenced to prison terms last week by Lane County Superior Court judges for crimes related to child sexual abuse, rape and sexual exploitation.

James Ferrell, 36, was charged in May with second-degree rape and second-degree sexual abuse after allegedly having nonconsensual sex with a child under the age of 14 between September 2020 and October 2022.

Ferrell pleaded guilty to the charges on May 31 and was sentenced on Aug. 7 by Lane County Superior Court Judge Debra Velure to nearly eight years in prison and at least 45 months of post-prison supervision, court records show.

Ferrell was previously charged and convicted of sex crimes in Lane County in 2011. He was sentenced to three years in prison for rape, two counts of third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of contributing to juvenile delinquency.

In June 2023, a case against Ferrell was dismissed after he was charged with second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy of a child under the age of 14.

William McDonald, 61, was indicted in August of last year on three counts of encouraging first-degree child sexual abuse, one count of using a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct and first-degree unlawful sexual penetration of a child under the age of 12.

Court documents allege that McDonald “unlawfully and intentionally engaged, authorized, permitted, coerced or induced a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct that could be photographed by a person.”

McDonald then duplicated photographs of sexually explicit conduct with a child, knowing or being aware that the visual recording of sexually explicit conduct constituted child abuse, the documents state.

A Lane County jury found McDonald guilty on all five charges on June 28, and Lane County Circuit Court Judge Charles Zennaché sentenced him on Aug. 5 to more than 36 years in prison with life post-prison supervision. The sentencing decision was based on Jessica’s Law, a measure signed in 2006 by former Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski that increased mandatory minimum sentences for offenders convicted of first-degree rape, sodomy or unlawful penetration if the victim is serving less than 12 to 25 years in prison.

McDonald was also required by the court to register as a sex offender, under the guidelines of the Oregon Revised Statutes.

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You can reach her at [email protected].