Terrebonne man, 67, pleads guilty to sex offenses involving children, receives nearly 37-year prison term

 MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 67-year-old Terrebonne man recently received a nearly 37-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to numerous sex offenses involving children, Jefferson County District Attorney Steven Leriche said Wednesday.

Here's the full news release issued by Leriche about the case:

"On Friday, September 22, Ronald Dean Jarchow, 67, of Terrebonne, was sentenced to a prison term of 440 months (36.6 years) as a result of his August 29 guilty pleas to numerous sex offenses including Using a Child in a Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct (1 count), Unlawful Sexual Penetration in the Second Degree(1 count), Sexual Abuse in the First Degree (5 counts), and Encouraging Child Abuse in the First Degree (13 counts). 

The State of Oregon was represented by Elijah Michalowski and Katherine Green, Senior Assistant Attorney Generals with the Oregon Department of Justice.  The defendant was represented by Bend attorney Thaddeus Betz.

 This case came to the attention of law enforcement after investigators received a cyber-tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that between January 2017 and July 2021, the defendant had uploaded 248 images of child sexual abuse material to his Yahoo! account.  

Additional investigation revealed that Jarchow "photo-shopped" the faces of children known to him onto these images and engaged in hands-on sexual abuse of more than one child victim as well.

Given the significant time commitment required to successfully prosecute this matter, coupled with ongoing understaffing challenges at the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Steven Leriche requested the assistance of the Oregon Department of Justice, who provided Michalowski, Green, and Special Agent Sarah Scharf to take on the investigation. 

As a result of the outstanding efforts of these exceptional professionals, the defendant was charged in two separate cases with a total of 60 sex offenses.  The work of the prosecutors and the investigators was amazing, as they put together a seamless case which resulted in a just result.   

At sentencing, Senior Assistant Attorney General Michalowski informed Presiding Judge Annette Hillman that Jarchow had offended against four separate known victims and the countless unknown victims in the images he possessed over many years. Two victims provided victim impact statements asking that Jarchow receive a sentence that would never let him out of prison. 

Michalowski asked for a term of 1,285 months. Jarchow’s attorney asked for a sentence of just 100 months, claiming that prison would be hard for Jarchow as an elderly, unhealthy sex offender and the defense expert claimed the defendant was a “low risk of re-offending.”

In contrast, Judge Hillman stated that Jarchow was “the definition of a sexual predator” and imposed a sentence of 440 months, ensuring Jarchow will spend the rest of his life in prison.  

The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office would like to commend the courage of the victims in disclosing their abuse at the hands of the defendant and would like to express its deepest gratitude to the Oregon Department of Justice for their willingness to take on this important case. "