A 19-year-old man initially indicted on Measure 11 sex crimes was sentenced this week in Clackamas County Juvenile Court to eight days in jail and up to four years of probation for abusing a minor victim.
The short sentence for Kaden Kafoury of Milwaukie was tied to timing and the sweeping changes the Legislature made to how prosecutors handle young offenders facing the most serious crimes.
Kafoury’s case was among a relatively small number of cases caught up in the transition from the state’s longstanding approach to the new policy outlined in Senate Bill 1008, Senior Deputy District Attorney Bill Golden told Judge Colleen Gilmartin.
Kafoury originally faced 16 sex crime accusations involving a child over many years. The Oregonian/OregonLive does not identify sex crime victims.
Earlier this year, Kafoury admitted to three counts of first-degree sodomy. He was sentenced Monday.
“We find ourselves with a case where this is the best outcome,” Golden told the court. “Senate Bill 1008 and the legislators who drafted it did not really give any guidance for these cases that would fall in between.”
The dramatic shift in the law occurred while the Kafoury matter was pending.
Previously, defendants between 15 and 17 who were accused of Measure 11 offenses, such as murder, rape and sex crimes like the ones Kafoury was accused of, automatically started out in adult court, where defendants typically faced harsher sentences.
Measure 11 created a class of crimes that come with mandatory minimum sentences.
Under reforms passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2019, those defendants are now prosecuted as juveniles under a system that emphasizes rehabilitation. Prosecutors may request a court hearing to move the cases into adult court, but the bar for such a transfer is high.
Kafoury was 17 when he was first charged and he turned 18 before the bill went into effect in January 2020.
The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office argued that Kafoury should be tried under the old rules given the timing of his indictment — a view initially shared by Clackamas County Circuit Judge Thomas Rastetter.
Kafoury’s lawyer, Stephen Houze, disagreed and petitioned the Oregon Supreme Court to review the matter. The court said it would reverse Rastetter’s ruling but also asked the judge for his explanation of his decision.
Rastetter did not provide one and instead reversed his earlier ruling.
That sent Kafoury’s case to Juvenile Court.
“Philosophically, the District Attorney’s Office has a position on Measure 11 that differs from that of many people in the defense bar, myself included,” Houze told Gilmartin.
“For the past two years,” Houze said, “we have made a concerted effort to demonstrate to anyone and everyone that Kaden Kafoury is a fine young man who despite the conduct he engaged in that has been harmful to (the victim) … and certainly to himself, it is conduct that is capable of reformation and that is the foundation, of course, of the Juvenile Court.”
He said his client has shown he “is capable of living his life in a very different and very positive way.”
Houze objected to his client being identified in this article. The Oregonian/OregonLive routinely identifies juveniles accused or convicted of serious crimes.
Kafoury’s parents appeared in court and offered support for their son. They are part of the extended Kafoury family, well-known in Multnomah County. Kaden Kafoury is the son of county Chair Deborah Kafoury’s cousin.
Further complicating the case, Kaden Kafoury is now an adult. That means he cannot be ordered to the Oregon Youth Authority’s locked facility for youths in Woodburn. The judge also can’t send him to a community-based residential program for juvenile offenders.
The only options under the law: a jail sentence of up to eight days and probation.
And under Juvenile Court rules, he can be on probation only until age 23.
Under a deal with prosecutors, Kafoury agreed to register as a sex offender for at least two years once his probation ends.
By law, the offender or a juvenile department can ask the court to end the probation term earlier if the person is doing well.
Kafoury addressed the court and said he takes “full responsibility for my actions.”
“I am very aware it was 100% my fault,” he said. “I never should have done what I did. I just want to make it clear that I really do feel like I have improved through my treatment.”
Underscoring the difference between juvenile and adult courts, a second defendant accused of similar crimes against the same victim was an adult when he was charged.
Caleb Conlee, 20, of Milwaukie was convicted of attempted first-degree sexual abuse and attempted first-degree sodomy and was sentenced to 223 days in jail and five years of probation.
While the charges against Kafoury spanned years, Conlee’s crimes took place on a single day, prosecutors said.
The judge said she would accept the deal negotiated by prosecutors and Houze. She agreed to allow him to serve his jail sentence during his spring break later this month.
She spoke directly to Kafoury at the close of the hearing. She told him that while the abuse he engaged in was “prolonged,” she thinks he’s capable of reform.
“There is still a very long road of work ahead,” she said. “You have started on that road. You have taken hold of that opportunity to get started before the court made you, which is a very good thing.”
