A 31-year-old man who investigators think defecated in possibly dozens of yards in the Ladd’s Addition neighborhood has schizophrenia and is receiving mental health treatment, a judge said Friday.

Moyhijah Widger-Chongo also was suspected of turning on garden hose faucets of more than 40 houses in the same Southeast Portland neighborhood in summer 2017. Police say that caused thousands of dollars in damage to basements that flooded after hours of water running into them.

Police say Widger-Chongo also was responsible for a third set of crimes in 2017: breaking into a Southeast Portland home, opening alcoholic beverages, checking his Facebook page, taking a shower, stealing clothes and leaving behind bloody ones.

Widger-Chongo wasn't charged in all the cases.

Widger-Chongo and his attorney, Jon Sarre, appeared before Multnomah County Circuit Judge Nan Waller to say that he’s doing much better.

Sarre said his client spent about six months in jail and at the Oregon State Hospital, where he worked with mental health experts. Widger-Chongo told the judge that he's now out and continues to receive mental health treatment, take his medications and is no longer homeless.

Sarre described his client as “gentle” and said he’s never been known to be violent. When Widger-Chongo was 18 or 19, he began exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. It took years of struggle to control the disease, the attorney said.

Two mental health experts who evaluated Widger-Chongo found he was insane in 2017 but poses no danger to society now that he’s on medication.

The judge found Widger-Chongo guilty except for insanity in the home burglary. She dismissed other criminal counts against him at the request of the prosecutor's office.

Under Oregon law, after finding defendants guilty except for insanity, a judge can sentence them to the supervision of the state Psychiatric Security Review Board only if they pose a “substantial danger” to themselves or others. From there, the board has several options, including ordering defendants to be committed to the state psychiatric hospital.

But because Widger-Chongo wasn’t determined to be a danger, the judge said he was free to go.

Waller wished him well and urged him to stay on course.

“The fact that you’re doing so well in the community addressing your mental health issues ... this appears to be the right resolution,” Waller said. “But I urge you to be vigilant about maintaining your mental health treatment.”

She added: “It’s clear … that when you are untreated, when you are not on your medication, things do not go well.”

-- Aimee Green