A judge on Wednesday handed down a 25-year prison sentence to a Vancouver man who kidnapped and molested a 13-year-old boy he met over a phone chat line.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Harris sentenced Steven M. Dillon, 57, for luring the Portland boy to his Orchards apartment on Aug. 6, 2008. Harris called Dillon’s actions predatory.
Dillon will be 82 years old when he’s due to be released from prison and then will be supervised for the rest of his life.
In October, a jury convicted Dillon of first-degree kidnapping with sexual motivation against a child and second-degree rape of a child. Under state sentencing laws, a finding that Dillon was a predatory stranger mandated a range of 25 years to life in prison.
“(Twenty-five) years is probably a life sentence, anyway,” said Dillon’s attorney, Jeff Sowder.
Deputy Prosecutor Alan Harvey had requested 35 years to ensure lifetime confinement on the grounds of public safety.
“These laws are designed so we don’t give these offenders another crack at our kids,” he said. “Mr. Dillon needs to be confined from children as long as possible.”
Dillon opted not to address the judge on Wednesday.
According to a probable cause affidavit signed by Harvey, Dillon met the victim on an adult singles chat line and arranged to pick him up at his Portland home.
The boy had masqueraded as an 18-year-old blond woman. When Dillon met him and realized he was an underage boy, he decided to go forward with the sex act, according to the affidavit.
Dillon drove the boy to his apartment with his girlfriend, Lori E. Spangler, hidden in the backseat. Once they arrived there, Dillon offered the boy alcohol, played a pornographic video recording and sexually assaulted him.
During the encounter, the boy kept asking to be taken back home, court records said.
On Oct. 16, Spangler, 49, was sentenced to 18 months for her role. She also molested the boy during the encounter, according to court papers.
Dillon faced the harsher punishment because of his greater role in luring and abusing the boy, prosecutors said.
