Oregon- Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, confronted by his first major investigation of a public official since taking office, has quietly assembled a veteran team to determine whether Portland Mayor Sam Adams committed any crimes by romancing a teenager.
Kroger and Department of Justice officials declined to be interviewed about Adams, saying they don't comment about ongoing investigations. But sources familiar with the agency's past cases -- and lawyers whose clients have been snared by them -- say Kroger will cast a wide net.
Investigators most likely will compare evidence against a slew of criminal statutes to find out whether Adams violated the law in his relationship with Beau Breedlove.
They also might examine whether Adams' romantic relationship, or his acknowledged cover-up of the matter, possibly resulted in official misconduct, tampering with a witness, harassment or hindering prosecution, the sources said.
The Adams investigation started Jan. 21, just 16 days after Kroger was sworn in, when Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk and Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer formally asked him to investigate whether Adams' 2005 relationship with Breedlove broke any laws.
Adams, 45, last month publicly acknowledged that as a city commissioner he grew interested in Breedlove, then 17, and had sex with him after he turned 18, the legal age of consent in Oregon. Adams has admitted lying about the relationship in 2007 as he was considering a run for mayor and asking Breedlove to lie about it, too.
The attorney general's office usually pairs a lawyer with a primary investigator to handle such inquiries, which typically take from one to six months and sometimes require help from Oregon State Police.
While it's unclear which of the Department of Justice's attorneys has taken the case, the agency has assigned Ron Nelson as lead investigator in the Adams matter, said sources familiar with the case.
Nelson retired as a special agent for the department in June. But the agency hired him back on July 15 as a temporary criminal investigator, said Lonn Hoklin, a spokesman for the state Department of Administrative Services.
Nelson has worked his share of major investigations during an 18-year career with the Justice Department, distinguishing himself as a tenacious investigator on drug, prostitution and public corruption cases. He spent part of this week interviewing key witnesses in the Adams case.
Veteran lawyer Shaun McCrea of Eugene, who defended a former Curry County sheriff convicted of sexually harassing three county employees, said anyone with a shred of information about Adams and Breedlove's relationship can expect a call from Nelson or other investigators.
"Based on my experience, the attorney general's investigation will seek to obtain information from anyone and everyone who might know something about the facts," McCrea said. "So this would include, of course, wanting to interview Mr. Adams, Mr. Breedlove and anyone who observed them together, knows about their relationship or could provide further information or investigative leads."
The Justice Department is likely to focus on whether Adams committed third-degree sex abuse, according to sources familiar with some of Oregon's past public corruption probes. That law makes it a misdemeanor crime to make sexual contact with someone younger than 18.
Adams has steadfastly denied having any sexual contact with Breedlove before he turned 18. But Breedlove clouded the issue in a recent interview with The Oregonian, saying he kissed Adams twice before reaching the age of consent, including a lingering kiss in a City Hall lavatory in June 2005.
The issue of whether a kiss amounts to sex was decided by the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2001. A panel ruled that lips can be considered intimate body parts, and that a kiss can be considered sexual contact under certain circumstances.
In the Adams case, both Breedlove and Adams would have to consider the kiss more than chaste, according to the law. Or if Adams didn't view it that way, then the test is that a reasonable person would consider the kiss intimate.
