Plea deal expected in child porn case
Staff writer
Bane L. Spurlin, 19, Hillsboro, is scheduled to enter plea agreements Aug. 8 in three different court cases involving eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Spurlin, then a Goessel High School senior, golf team member, and FFA participant, was charged April 20, 2022, with four counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possessing images of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct between Aug. 24, 2020, and Nov. 2, 2021. The sentencing range for each charge is between 13 months community corrections to 11 years 4 months in prison.
Two months later, on June 20, 2022, he was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child for allegedly using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct Oct. 20, 2021. This charge is an off-grid felony, for which Spurlin could be sentenced to as much as life in prison.
Spurlin was charged Friday with three more counts of sexual exploitation of a child for possessing images of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct between July 23, 2021, and March 27, 2023. The charges are the same as the original case, so an identical sentencing range for each charge is 13 months community corrections to 11 years and four months in prison.
Court records show Spurlin has not had preliminary hearings in any of the cases, but is expected to make a plea agreement.