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Portland police and state child welfare workers on Dec. 11, 2012, searched the Charlton home in Southeast Portland, three days after their 11-year-old son was accused of using his father's gun to try to carjack a woman at gunpoint at a neighboring church. The state took the boy and his younger siblings, a 7-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister, into protective custody that day.

(The Oregonian)

A federal judge Wednesday tore into Joseph Charlton, the Portland father whose 11-year-old son took his dad's loaded gun and used it in an attempted carjacking.

"The most important function of a parent is being a role model," U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez told Charlton. "By example, you are failing."

Charlton's oldest son was 11 on Dec. 8, 2012, when he used his father's .22-caliber American Derringer Corp. handgun to threaten a 22-year-old woman sitting in her pickup in the lot of a Southeast Portland church next to the Charlton home. Police said the boy demanded her truck, money and phone.

Joseph D. Charlton, 35

"What your son did and the words he used -- 'I got a gun, bitch!'" the judge said, quoting from law enforcement reports. "Where did he learn that stuff?"

While the judge said he's not necessarily blaming the father for the boy's language, he told Charlton: "You have a role to play in raising your child so that kind of thing doesn't happen."

Charlton confessed to police that he kept the loaded handgun in the glove box of his truck, and his son had gotten it without his permission.

In February, Charlton, 35, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the 2012 offense. Charlton, who was convicted of fourth-degree assault in 2003, was prohibited from having a firearm when his son got hold of his gun.

The judge went on, recounting what the 11-year-old son did with Charlton's gun earlier on the day of the attempted carjacking.

"He fired the gun four times in your backyard while you slept, and his 4-year-old sister was there ... while he fired a gun, while you slept. A gun you shouldn't have had,'' Hernandez said.

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The judge noted that Charlton's wife, Kathryn Charlton, told authorities she believed her husband had gotten the gun a month or so before because some people were after him, possibly for drugs.

"Wow,'' Hernandez said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Weinhouse urged the judge to send Charlton to prison for one year and nine months. Weinhouse argued that a prison sentence was needed as punishment for Charlton's "negligency and child-rearing irresponsibility." He also told the court that Charlton recently was arrested in a shoplifting case.

"It shows he's not where he needs to be yet,'' Weinhouse said.

The prosecutor said the prison sentence also should serve as a deterrent to others.

"That's why we took the case,'' Weinhouse said. "This case can send a message to other adults who have firearms, whether illegally or legally, that they have to do a better job protecting their children when there's firearms around.''

At the time of his initial arrest, Charlton became the first adult charged under a Portland ordinance that makes it a city crime to leave a gun unsecured and within reach of a child. But the city violation was dropped, and Charlton was charged with the federal offense instead in late December 2012.

Charlton's lawyer, Nell Brown, asked the judge to send Charlton to a community-based halfway house for one year, noting that he's made "great strides'' since his arrest.

Charlton has attended parenting classes, therapy with his children, drug-and-alcohol treatment, and has made a tremendous effort to keep his family intact, Brown said.

Charlton has been able to see his three youngest children a few times a week, she said. His oldest son completed his placement at St. Mary's School for Boys and was moved to a foster family, a friend of the mother's, in the last couple of weeks, Brown said.

"Give Mr. Charlton a chance to continue his program," Brown said. She said the community confinement will punish him, but also allow him to continue with the progress he's made.

Charlton also asked for leniency. Standing before the judge, he apologized and told him that he knows what it's going to take to get his life back on track.

"I do realize the seriousness of what I've done,'' Charlton said. "That scenario could have ended up a lot more serious than it did, and the people involved are very lucky.''

Hernandez would have none of it. Instead, the judge asked why a presentence report noted that Charlton had a history of making excuses for being late to office visits and required urine tests while he was out of custody.

"While all this is pending, you show up late and you pick up a new theft 3?" the judge noted with amazement. "The message should have gotten through."

Hernandez accepted the prosecutor's recommendation, sending Charlton to federal prison for one year and nine months, followed by three years of supervised release. He also ordered Charlton to complete domestic violence counseling and a mental health treatment program.

The sentence reflects the seriousness of Charlton's offense, provides a just punishment and can serve as a deterrent, he said.

Charlton's lawyer asked if Charlton could have until Jan. 1 to turn himself in, so he could spend some more time with his oldest son.

"No, that's too long,'' Hernandez responded, and gave him until Nov. 3 to head to the federal prison in Sheridan.

As the court adjourned, Charlton walked to the back of the courtroom, where a worker from the state Department of Human Services sat.

"I thought you were going to speak in my favor,'' Charlton said.

-- Maxine Bernstein