By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
December 3, 2007

A “romance” between an adult male prisoner and 15-year-old Hood River girl ended with him being sentenced for rape and sex abuse.

Richard M. Pinckard, 27, has been ordered by Circuit Court Judge Paul Crowley to spend 19 more months behind bars. He recently pleaded guilty to the three new charges against him, which also included contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor.

Pinckard has been serving time since 2006 for the criminal mistreatment of his young son from another relationship.

The local case against Pinckard was developed after his father told Oregon State Police Troopers about an escape plan. He said his son intended to flee the Mill Creek Correctional Facility in Salem with help from the teenager.

Dozens of letters seized from Pinckard’s cell by OSP officers also outlined a plot for him and the girl to gain custody of his young son by murdering the mother. References were also made to the robbery and murder of a wealthy family known to Pinckard.

“The father knew that his son was capable of violent acts,” said Hood River County Deputy District Attorney Carrie Rasmussen.

She said the teen had a long history of running away from a troubled home. The girl had been staying with her grandmother in the summer of 2005 when she met Pinckard at the Lloyd Center Mall in Portland.

The girl, who is now 17, gained the grandmother’s approval to get sexually involved with the man who was 10 years older. She became pregnant and is now raising their son in a foster care home.

The teen continued to correspond with Pinckard after he was sent to prison. Rasmussen said the girl that she views as a victim has gradually come to see Pinckard as a dangerous individual.

“It’s always good when a case like this resolves without having to go to trial,” she said.

“This girl was already in state custody and had many more problems in her life than the victimization by this man.

“It would have been extremely harmful, I believe, to take her through the process of facing not only what this man did to her but, frankly, her own involvement and what she was willing to consider doing for him.”

Pinckard has been directed by Crowley not to have any contact with either of the women who are raising his children.