Prosecutor of bottom-swatting boys is arrested in alleged assault

[depakid]

Source: The Oregonian


Debra Markham, the district attorney who prosecuted two Patton Middle School boys for swatting girls on the bottom.
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Debra Markham, a Yamhill County deputy district attorney who made national news in 2007 for prosecuting two McMinnville seventh-graders for swatting the bottoms of girls at their middle school, now faces criminal charges herself. Markham was arrested last month in Lincoln City for allegedly punching her husband in the face during a dispute.

A Lincoln City police officer said Markham's husband, Curtis Cox, had blood on his forehead and cheek from the assault. She was taken to the local jail and charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment, according to the Lincoln County district attorney. Nine days after her arrest, Markham's nearly five-year employment with the Yamhill County district attorney's office ended. County officials said it was a personnel matter and declined to comment further.

Markham and her former boss, Yamhill County District Attorney Bradley Berry, received hundreds of complaints from across the nation for pursuing criminal charges against the seventh-graders. The two boys were arrested at their school, jailed for five days and charged with multiple counts of felony sex abuse. Juvenile court records in the case showed both boys and girls were slapping one another's bottoms, and two of the girls identified as victims said they felt pressured by investigators to give false statements.

The boys were kicked out of school for the rest of the school year pending resolution of the charges. They had faced 10 years in juvenile detention and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. "I feel like karma has finally come back to Debra Markham for prosecuting Cory and Ryan," said Tracie Mashburn, the mother of one of the boys.



Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/prosecutor_of_buttswatting_boy.html

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Now Ms. Markham can spend the rest of her legal career defending clients from overzealous prosecutors!

[TomInTib]

1. I remember that case. She's a real piece of work.

I said at the time that she was just pissed off because no one had ever grabbed her fat ass.

Good riddance.

[Poll_Blind]

2. To attach the stigma of "sex offender" on children is about the MOST cruel and unusual punishment...

...I can imagine. Seriously. That is just off the fucking charts.

PB