Haines

Terry Scott Haines has a terminal illness — brain cancer that has spread to other organs. His doctor expects him to live another one to two years.

But the 46-year-old Haines is also facing felony sex abuse charges in Deschutes County Circuit Court. On Tuesday, the wheelchair-bound defendant from Bend asked a judge to allow him to remain on house arrest while awaiting a trial that could possibly bring a lengthy prison sentence.

“His hours have basically been spent sleeping or having small seizures, headaches, that sort of thing,” said Haines’ attorney, Jonathan Char. “Overall, he’s very weak. We’re asking the court to continue his home arrest. He doesn’t go anywhere, anyway.”

Haines was wheeled into court by his wife. He wore pajama pants and appeared in pain as he rubbed his head throughout the hearing.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel told The Bulletin his office will pursue the case regardless of Haines’ health.

“Hell yes we will continue our prosecution of him,” Hummel said in a text. “A medical condition does not absolve you of your crime. In Deschutes County, if you sexually abuse a child, you can run but you can’t hide.”

In March 2018, a girl attending school in Eugene was shown an Erin’s Law video in class. Erin’s Law mandates public schools in Oregon develop sex abuse prevention programs.

After watching the video, the alleged victim told a school nurse Haines had touched her inappropriately between September and November 2010, according to documents filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court. The girl was next interviewed by a forensic interviewer at the KIDS First advocacy center in Eugene.

In April, the Deschutes County district attorney charged Haines with three Measure 11 counts of sexually abusing a child younger than 14. Measure 11 imposes lengthy automatic prison sentences for violent and sex-related crimes in Oregon.

In November, Haines was taken from the jail to St. Charles Bend, where he stayed for more than a month while he received treatment for brain and lung cancer.

Haines’ doctor, James Taylor, diagnosed him with an “advanced” stage of cancer, according to a motion filed by Char.

“The cancer has spread throughout his body and is no longer just in (his) brain,” Char wrote in a court document.

Haines’ oncologist said people in his situation typically live one to two more years, according to Char.

“At a minimum, (Haines) will need a high level of chemotherapy subsequent to his discharge from the hospital,” Char wrote.

Haines was released from the hospital Dec. 27. Since then, he’s worn an ankle monitor while on house arrest at his home in Bend.

While at St. Charles, Haines was guarded 24 hours a day by deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. Char said allowing Haines to await trial on house arrest relieves the county of the considerable expense of guarding Haines at a medical facility while he receives chemo treatments.

In the end, Judge Alycia Sykora approved the house arrest and ordered Haines to only travel to and from medical appointments at St. Charles Cancer Center and Mosaic Medical clinic.

“This is serious stuff,” the judge told Haines. “I want to be crystal clear. This is a trip from (your home) to the cancer center. There are to be no stops along the way. If you run out of gas, call an Uber.”

Haines’ trial is scheduled for March. Char told Sykora he expects to file a motion to push back the trial.