Oregon Judge on Unpaid Leave; Charged with 10 Counts of Child Pornography

Will Oregon perform an audit of his cases?

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John Mann, Oregon’s chief administrative law judge, was placed on unpaid leave after being indicted on ten counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the first degree, a class B felony.

The indictment against the judge shows that conduct allegedly took place in summer 2020, and involved visual recordings with disturbing titles such as “4yo babysitting done right,” “8yo camile,” and “anal lady 5 años.” Mann made his first appearance on April 12, and pleaded not guilty.

Filings in the case will be subject to protective order.

Mann and his wife, who was a witness against him at the April 7th grand jury, hastily divorced in early March: Mann filed for divorce on March 7 and the case was closed seventeen days later. Mann made a counter payment in that case the day before the grand jury met.

Mann has apparently been working since summer 2020, even after the discovery by his wife of his alleged criminal conduct, and during their divorce.

Administrative law judges review cases involving the actions and decisions of state agencies that have impacted people and businesses. Mann was their chief judge.

At least a year and a half of Mann’s cases may need to be reviewed — that is if Oregon is concerned with the decision-making of a judge who allegedly viewed child porn; or if Oregon is concerned with how his job performance was affected once his alleged conduct became known to his family.

The Oregon State Bar is apparently opening an investigation into Mann.