A former Woodburn police officer is scheduled to be sentenced in May after he admitted to having sex with an underage girl and soliciting sexual contact from the child online.
Daniel Kerbs, 29, of Salem pleaded guilty March 20 to second-degree sexual abuse and first-degree online sexual corruption of a child under the age of 16. Kerbs resigned following the guilty pleas, according to Woodburn Police Chief Jim Ferraris.
In July, Kerbs was arrested by Tigard detectives at the Woodburn Police Department on 13 charges, including six counts of third-degree sodomy, six counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree online sexual corruption of a child.
According to Tigard police, Kerbs' arrest stemmed from a three-week long investigation.
Kerbs, who was acquainted with the victim's family, was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing and sodomizing a minor female from 2013 to 2014 in Tigard.
Kerbs was hired by the Woodburn Police Department in January 2015 as a patrol officer.
He was placed on administrative leave the day before his arrest, said Woodburn police spokesman Jason Horton.
Horton declined to comment further regarding Kerbs' guilty plea.
Following his arrest, Kerbs was taken to Washington County Jail and held on $140,000 bail. He was released a week later after posting a $14,000 bond. As part of his release agreement, Kerbs was ordered to not have any contact with minor children.
A Washington County judge allowed Kerbs to have supervised visits with his girlfriend's three minor children, whom he claimed were living in Washington state with their grandparents. A warrant was issued for Kerbs' arrest in January after he was accused of lying about his address and his paternity status.
According to an attorney for the children's legal father, the three children were not in Washington and Kerbs not living at his listed address in Salem. Instead, Kerbs was allegedly living with the children and their mother. The attorney expressed concern that Kerbs was spending the night at the home and sometimes sharing a bed with the children.
"We know next to nothing about Mr. Kerbs' criminal behavior. We don't know the extent to which the children may be at risk of abuse," the attorney wrote in a letter to the court.
Kerbs was taken into custody after the warrant was issued. He later was released after posting bail.
During a March 20 hearing, Kerbs pleaded guilty to two of the 13 counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court on May 23.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
