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A Lane County grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Terry Bean and Kiah Lawson on Tuesday. Lawson pleaded not guilty to two counts of third-degree sodomy and third-degree sexual abuse and is due back in court on Jan. 5. Bean is set to appear in court Dec. 3.

(The Oregonian)

Portland police tracked down the 15-year-old boy whose testimony helped lead to the sex abuse indictment against prominent Democrat Terrence P. Bean and his former boyfriend, Kiah L. Lawson, after Lawson gave police the teen's phone number, according to Lawson's former lawyer.

Terrence P. Bean, 66

Bean and Lawson are accused of setting up an encounter with the teen through the iPhone app Grindr, a mobile social network that helps men find "local gay, bi and curious guys for dating.''

The app advertises, "Meet the men nearest you with GPS.''

Bean, 66, and Lawson, 25, are accused of having sex with the boy at a Eugene hotel on Sept. 27, 2013.

A Lane County grand jury indicted both on two counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sexual abuse.

On Friday afternoon, Lawson pleaded not guilty to the three-count indictment in Lane County Circuit Court. Bean, who posted bail, is set to appear in court Dec. 3.

"The surprising thing to me is Kiah was indicted in this case because it was Kiah who helped authorities find this kid,'' said Jeffrey Dickey, Lawson's attorney at the time. "If someone is going to cooperate and be helpful for the police there should be some kind of reward for that. It could have a chilling effect on others coming forward.''

Bean's attorney, Kristen Winemiller, said her client has been cooperating with authorities as well. Winemiller has said that Bean was a victim of a months-long extortion ring and that no allegations against him "should be taken at face value.''

"We look forward to the opportunity to clear his name,'' Winemiller said.

It's unclear whether Lawson or Bean knew the actual age of the teen considered the victim in the sex abuse indictment. In an unrelated case, a New Jersey man filed a federal lawsuit this year against Grindr, alleging that the hook-up site's lax age verification standards resulted in his arrest for having sex with an underage boy.

Kiah L. Lawson, 25

The Lane County indictments follow a tumultuous relationship between Bean, 66, and Lawson, 25, that unraveled after Lawson discovered Bean had a hidden camera in the bedroom of his Southwest Portland home in the West Hills, according to Dickey.

Lawson had found Bean was surreptitiously videotaping his sexual encounters with Lawson and a handful of other men, Dickey said. The falling out led to each taking out restraining orders against the other earlier this year, and Bean trying to evict Lawson from Bean's Jantzen Beach condo.

Bean and Lawson met in 2013. Soon, Lawson was living in the condo and was paid about $400 a week by Bean, according to Dickey and Lawson's restraining order against Bean.

Lawson accompanied Bean on several trips, to his Palm Springs' home, to a meeting with President Obama at the White House, to the Dominican Republic and Italy, Dickey said.

"Kiah was totally sucked into this world with this 'jet setter,''' Dickey said.

Yet jealousies developed, and Lawson one morning went looking through Bean's iPad, left near a nightstand in the bedroom of Bean's West Hills home, Dickey said.

Lawson found images from security cameras around the house. He looked further, according to Dickey, and found more images from Bean's bedroom of sexual encounters between him and Bean, and Bean with at least a half-dozen other men.

Bean's attorney said Bean was not engaged in any illicit use of security cameras.

"Terry has a security system in the home which has been used for no purpose beyond the manner in which a security system is typically used,'' Winemiller said Friday.

According to Dickey, Lawson ultimately took screen shots of some of the images and presented them to him. Dickey said he gave Lawson the choice: Tell police and file a complaint about invasion of privacy or send "a demand letter'' to Bean seeking money from him to avoid a legal action.

Earlier this year, Dickey and Lawson sent Bean a letter seeking about $40,000 from Bean, presented as damages for the surreptitious videotaping of their encounters, Dickey said. If they had reached a deal, Lawson would return the images he had taken, Dickey said.

Dickey said he had reached a deal with Bean's lawyer, but it fell apart after Willamette Week published a story in June about what was happening.

Bean went to police and the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, asking them to investigate an alleged extortion plot involving Lawson.

"We went to the police bureau because Lawson and his associates are dangerous men who were, and almost certainly still are, preying on gay men of all ages and walks of life,'' Winemiller said.

Since Dickey had once worked as an intern in the DA's office and had unsuccessfully applied for a job there, the office cited a conflict of interest.

So Portland police sex assault detectives instead worked closely with the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office. The investigation led to the indictments in Lane County against Bean and Lawson this week.

Winemiller said the investigative team that handled the case leading to the indictment never interviewed Bean.

"It is shocking that they would arrest and charge a man like Terry Bean, who has made good government his life's work, without even finding the time to talk with us first,'' she said.

Lawson is being held on $50,000 bail at the Lane County jail. He's due back in court Jan. 5.

Lane County Circuit Judge Curtis R. Conover ordered Lawson not to disclose the name of the victim in the case, according to court records.

On Sept. 24, Dickey's law license was suspended after he failed to respond to a disciplinary counsel's inquiry, according to the Oregon State Bar.

--Maxine Bernstein