Sandpoint man convicted of child porn charges

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man is being investigated for molestation after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in Oregon.

Washington County sheriff’s officials said images seized during the child pornography investigation suggested Michael Henry Forker lured children into his apartment west of Portland and abused them.

However, some of the children could not be identified and there is concern Forker may have victimized children who never reported the crimes, said sheriff’s Sgt. David Thompson.

Forker, 31, lived in an apartment in Aloha in 2003 and another place in Tigard. He has been living in Sandpoint for the last several years, according to Thompson.

The Idaho State Judiciary online data repository shows two Bonner County court cases involving Forker, but both are sealed by court rule or judicial order. Forker was charged in Latah County with supplying alcohol to a minor in 2000, but the case was later dismissed.

Forker was working at a shelter for runaway teens when he was arrested in Aloha in 2003. A search of the apartment turned up evidence on a computer which resulted in a charge of encouraging child sex abuse and protracted court proceedings.

Thompson said Forker’s defense counsel won a motion to suppress evidence on a technicality and the case stalled. The district attorney’s office appealed the ruling on the suppression motion to the Oregon Court of Appeals, which overturned the lower court’s ruling and remanded the case back to circuit court.

After losing a series of pretrial motions, including another suppression motion, Thompson said Forker pleaded guilty to 10 counts of encouraging child sex abuse on the day his trial was set to commence.

A sentencing hearing was pending.

During the original investigation, authorities discovered that Forker had been taking photos of boys in unidentified locker rooms. At the time of his latest arrest, Forker had been working as a computer repair technician.

Those with information related to crimes Forker committed are asked to call Washington County Sheriff’s detectives at (503) 846-2700.