Modoc doctor won't be weekend prisoner
Published October 22, 2005
By ANGELA TORRETTA
H&N Staff Writer
A Modoc County doctor convicted of secretly videotaping teenage girls in his examining room was hoping to serve his sentence on the weekends.
But victims and community members protested, and the county sheriff reversed his decision.
“It appeared to need to be corrected based on the viewpoint of the victims, who have a right to weigh in,” said Sheriff Bruce Mix. “This was, so to speak, insult to injury.”
On Oct. 12, Owen Panner Jr. pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of filming the teenagers during pelvic exams. He was sentenced to 30 days on each charge and went to jail last Friday.
Panner was convicted of taping the girls during gynecological interviews at the Modoc Medical Center. The tapes were found later by hunters, half-buried outside in the Alturas area. The discovery reopened an investigation into video cameras that were found hidden in the Alturas hospital in 2001, and the tapes were eventually linked to Panner.
Modoc County District Attorney Jordan Funk pushed for a year in prison - the maximum sentence that Panner could get. Judge Larry Dier instead opted for the more lenient sentence of 60 days, saying Panner had been a contributing member of society.
What is a contributing member of society?
By ANGELA TORRETTA
H&N Staff Writer
A Modoc County doctor convicted of secretly videotaping teenage girls in his examining room was hoping to serve his sentence on the weekends.
But victims and community members protested, and the county sheriff reversed his decision.
“It appeared to need to be corrected based on the viewpoint of the victims, who have a right to weigh in,” said Sheriff Bruce Mix. “This was, so to speak, insult to injury.”
On Oct. 12, Owen Panner Jr. pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of filming the teenagers during pelvic exams. He was sentenced to 30 days on each charge and went to jail last Friday.
Panner was convicted of taping the girls during gynecological interviews at the Modoc Medical Center. The tapes were found later by hunters, half-buried outside in the Alturas area. The discovery reopened an investigation into video cameras that were found hidden in the Alturas hospital in 2001, and the tapes were eventually linked to Panner.
Modoc County District Attorney Jordan Funk pushed for a year in prison - the maximum sentence that Panner could get. Judge Larry Dier instead opted for the more lenient sentence of 60 days, saying Panner had been a contributing member of society.
What is a contributing member of society?
posted by Terry at
11:23 AM
1 Comments:
I was in the hospital on OCT 21st 2005. car accident. They pulled this guy out of jail to work on me because they didn't have any other doctors available in the county... wierd.
By
Anonymous, at 10:45 PM
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