Haines

After a 2½year legal battle ended last month with a terminally ill La Pine man imprisoned for child sex abuse, the Oregon Department of Corrections announced Thursday he had died.

Terry Scott Haines, 48, was sentenced last month to 12 years incarceration for abusing a relative in 2010. At the time, he and his attorney told the court he was dying of cancer.

The victim at the time was 8 years old.

She confided the abuse at age 16, and Haines was arrested in April 2019.

His case was delayed numerous times due to his diagnosis for terminal brain cancer. In January 2020, a judge modified release conditions for Haines to allow him to remain on house arrest while awaiting trial.

When Haines was sentenced, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said the punishment fits the crime, and Haines should receive no special treatment because of his terminal diagnosis.

“I do not celebrate long prison sentences,” Hummel said last month. “When my office seeks one, it’s because we’ve determined it’s necessary for community safety. This is one of those times.”

Haines died Thursday morning while in hospice care at a corrections department infirmary, the department said.