GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Oregon prosecutors said Friday that James Auchincloss, half brother of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, will plead guilty next week to child pornography charges.
Jackson County Deputy District Attorney David Hoppe said that Auchincloss, 63, of Ashland, will appear in Jackson County Circuit Court Wednesday in Medford, where he will plead guilty to two felony counts of encouraging child sex abuse, the charge generally brought against people possessing child pornography.
Auchincloss was indicted a year ago after his longtime personal assistant, Edward McManus, told investigators he had seen Auchincloss and co-defendant Dennis Vickoren viewing pictures of naked boys in sexual poses at Auchincloss’ home.
Vickoren is also scheduled to plead guilty.
Defense attorney Carl Caplan said he had no comment on the announcement from District Attorney Mark Huddleston.
“We’ll be there on Wednesday,” he said.
Auchincloss and Vickoren did not immediately return telephone calls to their home for comment.
Hoppe said the counts against Auchincloss allege he possessed images on a computer disc and slides that he got from Vickoren, knowing that the children in the images had been victims of child abuse. The counts are eligible for a sentence of probation, with conditions such as successfully completing sex-offender treatment and registering as a sex offender.
An heir to a wealthy family that made a fortune in oil and financing, Auchincloss briefly took the national stage at the age of 6 when he carried the wedding train of his half sister Jackie up the aisle as she married John F. Kennedy in 1953.
But friends of Auchincloss said Jackie later treated him like a pariah, and various reasons have been given, including the fact that Auchincloss served as one of the better sources for the racy biography of Jackie titled “Jackie, Oh,” by author Kitty Kelley.
Auchincloss moved from Washington, D.C., to the small Southern Oregon college town of Ashland, best known as home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, in the mid-1990s.
In October 2008, police searched his small hillside bungalow and found a large number of graphic images of young boys, according to court documents.
Auchincloss was indicted last September on 25 counts and Vickoren on 30.