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Doctor pleads in taping case
Published August 25, 2005
ALTURAS - Dr. Owen "Sandy" Panner Jr. has pleaded no contest to charges of secretly taping teenage girls during examinations at Modoc Medical Center.
The charges are misdemeanors that could bring sentences of six months each, and the prosecutor said he would seek the maximum penalty at sentencing Oct. 12.
It was a plea bargain. Panner said through his attorney that there was a "factual basis" for his plea of no contest, and he waived the statute of limitation that ordinarily would have precluded prosecution on the charges.
As a result, he won't have to register as a sex offender as he would have if convicted of possession of child pornography. That was the first charge lodged against him and has been dismissed. It, too, was a misdemeanor charge.
Panner entered his pleas Tuesday before Judge Fritz Barclay. State law refers to the charges as "Disorderly Conduct by Secretly Videotaping the Body or Underclothing of a Person for Purposes of Sexual Arousal."
Modoc County District Attorney Jordan Funk said it wasn't certain that the prosecution could have won a case against Panner on the charge of possessing child pornography, given that the girls on the tapes were physically mature.
Authorities believe the tapes were made in 2001. Given the lapse of time, Funk said, the child pornography charge was "the only charge we could conceivably have filed which did not run afoul of the statute of limitations."
"In any event, this is not a case where Dr. Panner had a collection of images of clearly underage girls, and there is no indication whatsoever that he is a 'child pornographer' in the common understanding of the term," Funk said.
He said he would have filed the disorderly conduct charge in the first place, were it not for the statute of limitations.
Such statutes exist in the law so that justice isn't done on the basis of weak memories or old, incomplete records. Generally, the more serious the crime, the longer the statute of limitations.
Panner, 57, the son of U.S. District Judge Owen Panner Sr., resigned from the troubled Modoc hospital as the initial charge was filed. California regulators have suspended his license. Authorities say deer hunters found the tapes partly buried in the woods.
The cameras were discovered in 2001 in vents in the ceilings of two examination rooms. Authorities said they believe the cameras transmitted a signal to a remote location, but they didn't know where that was.
Funk said Panner's agreement applies only to the videotaping of the underage girls, and not to any other charges, such as the videotaping of adult women.
Authorities said that women who believe they may have been illicitly videotaped should contact the District Attorney Victim-Witness Advocate, Luvina Albright at 233-3311.
Correspondent Jean Bilodeaux covers Surprise Valley. She can be reached at (530) 279-2031, or at P.O. Box 5, Cedarville, CA 96104, or by sending an e-mail to jeanb@hdo.net.
President offers resignation
ALTURAS- Bobby Ray, president of the troubled Modoc Medical Center's Board of Trustees, offered to resign Tuesday at a Modoc Board of Supervisors meeting.
He read a letter stating that he felt the board wanted to rid the hospital of himself and administrator Teresa Jacques. No action was taken on his offer.
The supervisors hope to have the results of an independent investigation of the hospital at their Sept. 27 meeting. The investigation was prompted by a critical report made by the Modoc County Grand Jury.
ALTURAS - Dr. Owen "Sandy" Panner Jr. has pleaded no contest to charges of secretly taping teenage girls during examinations at Modoc Medical Center.
The charges are misdemeanors that could bring sentences of six months each, and the prosecutor said he would seek the maximum penalty at sentencing Oct. 12.
It was a plea bargain. Panner said through his attorney that there was a "factual basis" for his plea of no contest, and he waived the statute of limitation that ordinarily would have precluded prosecution on the charges.
As a result, he won't have to register as a sex offender as he would have if convicted of possession of child pornography. That was the first charge lodged against him and has been dismissed. It, too, was a misdemeanor charge.
Panner entered his pleas Tuesday before Judge Fritz Barclay. State law refers to the charges as "Disorderly Conduct by Secretly Videotaping the Body or Underclothing of a Person for Purposes of Sexual Arousal."
Modoc County District Attorney Jordan Funk said it wasn't certain that the prosecution could have won a case against Panner on the charge of possessing child pornography, given that the girls on the tapes were physically mature.
Authorities believe the tapes were made in 2001. Given the lapse of time, Funk said, the child pornography charge was "the only charge we could conceivably have filed which did not run afoul of the statute of limitations."
"In any event, this is not a case where Dr. Panner had a collection of images of clearly underage girls, and there is no indication whatsoever that he is a 'child pornographer' in the common understanding of the term," Funk said.
He said he would have filed the disorderly conduct charge in the first place, were it not for the statute of limitations.
Such statutes exist in the law so that justice isn't done on the basis of weak memories or old, incomplete records. Generally, the more serious the crime, the longer the statute of limitations.
Panner, 57, the son of U.S. District Judge Owen Panner Sr., resigned from the troubled Modoc hospital as the initial charge was filed. California regulators have suspended his license. Authorities say deer hunters found the tapes partly buried in the woods.
The cameras were discovered in 2001 in vents in the ceilings of two examination rooms. Authorities said they believe the cameras transmitted a signal to a remote location, but they didn't know where that was.
Funk said Panner's agreement applies only to the videotaping of the underage girls, and not to any other charges, such as the videotaping of adult women.
Authorities said that women who believe they may have been illicitly videotaped should contact the District Attorney Victim-Witness Advocate, Luvina Albright at 233-3311.
Correspondent Jean Bilodeaux covers Surprise Valley. She can be reached at (530) 279-2031, or at P.O. Box 5, Cedarville, CA 96104, or by sending an e-mail to jeanb@hdo.net.
President offers resignation
ALTURAS- Bobby Ray, president of the troubled Modoc Medical Center's Board of Trustees, offered to resign Tuesday at a Modoc Board of Supervisors meeting.
He read a letter stating that he felt the board wanted to rid the hospital of himself and administrator Teresa Jacques. No action was taken on his offer.
The supervisors hope to have the results of an independent investigation of the hospital at their Sept. 27 meeting. The investigation was prompted by a critical report made by the Modoc County Grand Jury.
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Ralph Sayre wrote on Jan 31, 2009 6:13 AM:
" I've just read an article (2005) titled "Discarded Soul at Peace."
I'm trying to complete a bio for an ancestor, VIRGIL ELROY SNOW, who was born in Roane County, West Virginia 2 December 1884. Last info I have was that at age 48, he was killed in Klamath Falls by a hit and run.
There is no indication that he fathered children. We were hopeful that there may have been a male child to carry on the SNOW name.
If anyone knows, please email me.
Thanks,
Ralph Sayre in WV "
I'm trying to complete a bio for an ancestor, VIRGIL ELROY SNOW, who was born in Roane County, West Virginia 2 December 1884. Last info I have was that at age 48, he was killed in Klamath Falls by a hit and run.
There is no indication that he fathered children. We were hopeful that there may have been a male child to carry on the SNOW name.
If anyone knows, please email me.
Thanks,
Ralph Sayre in WV "
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Ilene S wrote on May 21, 2009 9:36 AM: