IMG_7374.JPG

Terry Bean (left) and his attorney, Derek Ashton, leaving the Lane County Courthouse on Friday.

(Steve Mayes/The Oregonian/OregonLive)

EUGENE -- The prosecutor handling the sex crimes case against Terry Bean, a prominent gay activist, told a judge Friday that his investigators have been unable to find the alleged victim in the case.

Without the teenager's testimony, the case will have to be dismissed or the trial rescheduled, the prosecutor acknowledged.

The boy, now 17, doesn't want to testify at the trial, his attorney said at an earlier hearing.

Meanwhile, the search for the boy goes on.

"We continue to put all available resources toward that issue," prosecutor Scott Healy said after a hearing before Lane County Circuit Judge Jay McAlpin.

Bean, 66, and his former boyfriend, Kiah Loy Lawson, 25, are accused of having sex with the then-15-year-old boy at a Eugene hotel in 2013. They each are charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy, a felony, and third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Bean has been one of the state's biggest Democratic donors and an influential figure in gay rights circles in the state. He helped found two major national political groups, the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, and has been a major contributor for several Democratic presidential candidates, including Barack Obama.

Terrence Patrick Bean (left), Kiah Lawson

The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11.

Healy said he might seek a continuance.

He told the judge that he just received information from new witnesses and needs time to review audiotapes of their statements and do additional investigative work.

Healy didn't identify the witnesses or explain how they are related to the case.

Bean's attorney, Derek Ashton, said he "strongly opposed" setting a new trial date. "The state has had months and months and months to put its case together," Ashton said.

"Terry Bean is innocent and we are prepared to prove that trial," Ashton said after the hearing.

The judge told Healy that he faces a high bar.

In Lane County "we set dates and we expect them to be met," McAlpin said.

Healy will confer with McAlpin and attorneys for Bean and Lawson on Tuesday to update them on his efforts to find the alleged victim and whether the state will seek a continuance.

In early July, Bean proposed a civil compromise that could have resulted in the dismissal of the criminal charges against him. Circuit Judge Charles Zennache denied the motion.

Terms of the offer were not made public. Zennache briefly cleared the courtroom during the July 16 hearing while Ashton and Lori Deveny, an attorney representing the boy, detailed the proposed settlement.

During Friday's hearing, Ashton asked that media be ordered to leave the courtroom. He said there would be a discussion of evidence unlikely to be admissible at trial and news stories including the information could influence potential jurors.

The Oregonian/OregonLive objected to the motion and requested that the judge allow an attorney for the news organization to address the court.

McAlpin, after a review of case law, denied the motion.

Healy also is dealing with a second uncooperative witness.

A California man has said he began an intimate relationship with Bean in 1979 when he was almost 17 and Bean was 30.

The man contacted investigators and The Oregonian/OregonLive last year and gave details of the relationship, which he said lasted about six months.

Earlier this month, the man said he was no longer willing to testify at the trial because the alleged victim is uncooperative and because his name appeared in court filings.

The court record has since been sealed and the man is now identified by his initials.

Healy said the man was never promised anonymity and didn't raise his concerns until shortly before the civil compromise hearing.

-- Steve Mayes

503-294-5916; @ocmayes