A Baker City man who in late November retracted his guilty plea to trying to lure a 13-year-old boy into his vehicle with the purpose of trying to have sex with the boy pleaded guilty to two charges on Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, in Baker County Circuit Court.

Robert Dean Conklin, 76, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree sodomy and attempted second-degree kidnapping for the incident on March 24, 2024, near Geiser-Pollman Park. Both are Class B felonies.

Judge Matt Shirtcliff, who told Conklin that “this can’t occur again” and said he is “very concerned about the community safety issue,” sentenced Conklin to 180 days in the Baker County Jail and three years of supervised probation.

Conklin will also have to register as a sex offender and complete sex offender treatment, and he will not be able to have any contact with people younger than 18 during his probation.

“You simply can not have contact with children in the future,” Shirtcliff told Conklin, who was represented by Baker City attorney Damien Yervasi. “You’re fortunate you’re not looking at prison time now. You earned it, but the court simply can not do it.”

District Attorney Greg Baxter said that based on Oregon’s criminal sentencing guidelines, Conklin didn’t qualify for a prison term.

Conklin has been in the Baker County Jail since his arrest in late March 2024. With reductions for good behavior, his one-year jail sentence, for violating the terms of his probation from a similar incident in 2023 to which Conklin also pleaded guilty, is nearly over.

Baxter said in court that although he would prefer that Conklin were going to prison, the reason he doesn’t qualify for that punishment is that although he tried to lure the boy, he did not succeed.

Baxter said he’s “grateful” that the victim didn’t suffer more.

Baxter said he talked with the victim and his father, and that they decided not to attend Tuesday’s hearing.

He said they did want to ensure that Conklin was held accountable.

Yervasi told Shirtcliff, prior to sentencing, that a psychiatrist who examined Conklin found that he has “significant cognitive impairment” that has been “lifelong.”

“He has had a very difficult life,” Yervasi said, citing among other things that Conklin grew up in a household affected by “severe alcohollism.”

Yervasi said Conklin, who relies on Social Security income, is “on the fringe of being able to function independently.”

However, Yervasi said Conklin “understands that what he did is wholly inappropriate.”

Yervasi said he believes the best scenario is for Conklin, once he is released from the Baker County Jail, to move directly into an assisted living facility or adult foster care home in the Willamette Valley where he can have more oversight while completing sex offender treatment.

“I don’t want Mr. Conklin to walk out of jail with no place to go,” Yervasi said.

Yervasi told the judge that a psychiatrist concluded that Conklin is unlikely to commit similar crimes.

Prior to sentencing Conklin, Shirtcliff said he sought to “balance public safety with what will be best for (Conklin) to do well on probation and not reoffend.”

Shirtcliff agreed with Yervasi that ensuring Conklin has a controlled setting to move to after he’s released from jail is a better option than having him return to his Baker City home.

“He needs to be in a setting that’s secure and where he can get the help he needs,” Shirtcliff said. “This is the best sentence the court can come up with under the circumstances.”

(Baxter said after the sentencing that Conklin will not live in a “lockdown” facility.)

Shirtcliff noted that arranging to transfer Conklin’s probation to another county west of the Cascades, during his stay in a residential facility, likely will take some time.

With Conklin’s new 180-day jail term starting as soon as his current one-year term ends, there should be enough time to arrange for his transfer to a supervised facility.

March 2024 incident

According to a probable cause affidavit written by Baker City Police officer Andrew Martin, a boy reported on March 24 that a man had tried to lure him into a vehicle at the park around 4:35 p.m.

Martin wrote in the affidavit that he interviewed the boy, who told him he was walking on the sidewalk beside the park when an older man in a brown car stopped and asked for directions.

The boy told Martin that the driver circled the block several times and the driver stopped a second time, on Madison Street between the park and the Baker County Library. The driver asked the boy to get in his car, saying he had puppies.

The boy told Martin that he refused, walked into the park and called police.

The car was still parked in the area while Martin was interviewing the boy, and he told police that the car and driver were the same as he had seen earlier.

Martin wrote that he and officer Mark Powell talked with the driver, who they identified as Robert Conklin. According to Martin’s affidavit, Conklin admitted speaking to a young boy near the park and asking him to either get into his car or go back to Conklin’s house.

The next day, March 25, Baker City Police Det. Josh Chandler interviewed Conklin at Conklin’s home, according to Martin’s affidavit.

Conklin admitted to the detective that his plan was to take the boy back to his home and have sex with him, Martin wrote in the affidavit.

“In this case, I believe Robert took a substantial step toward having sexual relations with a juvenile,” Martin wrote.

2023 incident

Baker City Police arrested Conklin on July 17, 2023, after he allegedly committed a lewd act on himself after asking a 16-year-old boy to watch.

Conklin pleaded guilty to public indecency, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail and 18 months of probation. He was sentenced to serve seven days in the jail with the remaining 23 days on house arrest or with an ankle monitor.

According to a 2023 press release from the Baker City Police, Conklin summoned the juvenile to Conklin’s car. Conklin was sitting in his car, and the juvenile saw Conklin performing the lewd act. The juvenile then hit Conklin’s arm with a skateboard, and left.

Police arrested Conklin at Grove Street and Washington Avenue.

Under the terms of his probation, Conklin is prohibited from having contact with the victim in the 2023 incident.