dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Former Richland attorney sentenced to more than 7 years in child molestation case

By CAMERON PROBERT

The Tri-City Herald

Richland attorney Jerry Davis was living two lives. That much, Benton County prosecutors and his defense attorney agree on.

He was a respected lawyer and review judge who volunteered his skills to the less fortunate.

But privately, he arranged for the molestation of a young child and collected child pornography.

On Friday, the suspended attorney and convicted child abuser agreed in a rambling, tearful 15-minute statement in a Kennewick courtroom that he didn’t understand what was wrong, but was willing to work on fixing it.

“It doesn’t make sense even to me,” he said. “When I started with, ‘I’m sorry for this,’ that’s too light.”

After listening to Davis, Judge Bruce Spanner said he didn’t wish the attorney ill will but that two children in the case will suffer a lifetime of stress, distrust and self-esteem struggles.