New Date Set For Terry Bean Trial

The Oregonian reports:

A Lane County judge agreed Friday to reschedule the trial of prominent gay activist Terry Bean to allow the state more time to find its elusive star witness. Bean, 66, and his former boyfriend, Kiah Loy Lawson, 25, are accused of having sex with the boy at a Eugene hotel in 2013. Each is charged with two counts of third-degree sodomy, a felony, and third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. The trial was scheduled to start Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court, but the boy, now 17, is nowhere to be found and the trial cannot proceed without him. Circuit Judge Jay McAlpin ruled Friday that there was good reason for a delay and reset the trial to Sept. 1 over the opposition of attorneys representing Bean and the boy.

Last week prosecutors accused the alleged victim and his mother of engaging in an elaborate series of ruses in order to avoid being served with a subpoena before the trial deadline. The state says it may now take the teen into custody as a material witness and hold him until the new trial date. If they ever find him.