A registered sex offender accused of taking cellphone photos up the dress of a 9-year-old girl at a wedding reception was sentenced Tuesday to nine months in jail on a different charge.
Carl Louis Rainey, 32, of Portland, pleaded guilty Oct. 24 in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree viewing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He originally faced one count of first-degree voyeurism before reaching a plea deal with the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
On Aug. 18, 2018, a La Center police officer responded to La Center Community Park, 1000 E. Fourth St., for a report of a man taking photos up a young girl’s skirt, according to an affidavit of probable cause. A wedding photographer had called police saying his co-worker reported seeing Rainey take the inappropriate photos, the affidavit said.
They watched Rainey call the girl over to his table, distract her by pointing to a wall and then place his cellphone between her legs, according to the affidavit. The photographer “stated he saw a flash function on the cellphone (Rainey) was holding,” the affidavit said.
Rainey’s father, who was the first to approach the arriving officer, said his son had dropped a cellphone and accidentally snapped some photos while picking it up, according to the affidavit.
When the photographers confronted Rainey, he “became nervous and agitated,” according to the affidavit. When the bride demanded his phone, Rainey fled the wedding, the affidavit said.
Under state law, the standard sentencing range in Rainey’s case is a year or less in jail. The voyeurism charged carried a sentence of a year or slightly more.
Rainey was previously convicted of three counts of second-degree encouraging child sex abuse, invasion of personal privacy and second-degree burglary in 2012 in Multnomah County, Ore.
In a letter written to the court, the bride said she learned about the incident while her new husband was in the middle of a dance with his mother. As the bride chased Rainey and tried to confront him, she tripped, and her wedding dress was repeatedly damaged. She spent much of the remaining reception speaking with police.
“What was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives together turned into a nightmare,” the letter reads.
