Baker County man facing sex crimes might not be able to attend trial

Published 3:00 pm Sunday, March 13, 2022

BAKER COUNTY — A Baker County man arrested more than two years ago on multiple charges of sex crimes might not physically be able to attend his trial in May.

Bill David Gonyer, 75, is undergoing treatment for cancer. Gonyer’s attorney, Damien Yervasi of Baker City, wrote in an email to the Baker City Herald on Thursday, March 10, that “it’s hard to tell at this point” whether Gonyer could participate.

“It all depends on how he’s doing between now and then,” Yervasi wrote.

Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter said he will be prepared for a trial in May, but that he’s aware of Gonyer’s medical situation.

Gonyer, who lived on Stices Gulch Road about 12 miles south of Baker City, was initially arrested Dec. 28, 2019, in Ada County, Idaho, where he was receiving medical care. He was extradited to Baker County in early January 2020 and was held at the Baker County Jail until December 2020, when Judge Thomas B. Powers approved a motion from Yervasi to grant Gonyer a conditional release so he could get medical treatment at the Boise VA Hospital and other facilities.

State court records show Gonyer faces 41 counts in all, including nine for child pornography, five of first-degree sexual abuse and five of felon in possession of a firearm. Fifteen of the charges carry mandatory minimum sentences upon conviction in Oregon.

Gonyer in 1999 pleaded guilty in Clackamas County to one count of first-degree sexual abuse involving a girl younger than 14, according to court documents. He received a prison sentence in that case of six years, three months.