Re: Matt Deatherage

[johnt@meaddata.com (John Townsend)]

While I would agree that this is primarily Matt's problem, and a problem
for people personally associated with him, this story has now been publicly
reported in a variety of media.  In the interest of getting the facts straight
for those of you getting them third- or fourth-hand, here are a couple of
articles from the _San Francisco Chronicle_ on the subject, taken from
NEXIS(tm):

                 Copyright 1994 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
                         The San Francisco Chronicle

                    APRIL 7, 1994, THURSDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A24; BAY AREA REPORT

LENGTH: 167 words

HEADLINE: SOUTH BAY
No Contest Plea by E-Mail Sadomasochist

BODY:
    Sunnyvale -- A Cupertino man pleaded no contest yesterday to charges that he
had sadomasochistic sex with a 14-year-old boy after befriending him via
computer.

   Donald Matthew Deatherage, 27, entered pleas in Sunnyvale Municipal Court
to two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and one count of sodomy
with a child, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Hector Moreno.

   Deatherage, a computer engineer, met the boy through a computer bulletin
board and arranged to pick him up New Year's Eve from the boy's home in Monterey
County, under the pretense that he was the older brother of one of the boy's
friends and that they were going to a party, Moreno said.

   According to Moreno, the boy had agreed to participate in sadomasochistic
sex. The incident came to light when the boy's father found messages on his
son's computer.

   Deatherage faces a maximum term of four years and four months in state prison
when he is sentenced May 3, Moreno said.


                 Copyright 1994 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
                          The San Francisco Chronicle

                    APRIL 6, 1994, WEDNESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A15; BAY AREA REPORT

LENGTH: 151 words

HEADLINE: SOUTH BAY
Warning Issued About E-Mail Pedophiles

 BODY:
    Cupertino -- Police are warning parents to monitor children's use of
computer bulletin boards after the arrest of a man accused of trussing up and
assaulting a 14- year-old boy he met through electronic mail.

   The suspect, Donald Matthew Deatherage, apparently contacted out-of-state
juveniles as well, but it is unclear whether he met with any of them, said Santa
Clara County Sheriff's Sergeant James Arata.

   Deatherage was being held yesterday in lieu of $ 500,000 bail at the Santa
Clara County Jail.

   Deatherage, 27, was arrested after the 14-year-old's father checked his son's
computer files, and called police. Arata encouraged other parents to do the same
with minors who use computer networks.

   According to Detective Collette Swaringen, the Monterey County 14-year-old
and Deatherage met last January after exchanging sexually explicit messages
through private E-mail.

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