Grand jury indicts Baker City man on 38 sex abuse counts

Baker County prosecutors have pushed the Eric Vincent Swanlund case into a far more serious phase, with a grand jury on Thursday, April 30, returning a 38-count indictment that adds four Measure 11 felony charges and seven counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor.

Swanlund, 43, was already accused of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl. The new indictment keeps the core allegations intact but reshapes the case around the evidence prosecutors chose to emphasize, reducing the counts of third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy and third-degree sexual abuse to seven each. The earlier charging document had listed 10 counts each of those offenses, along with one count each of second-degree online corruption of a child, coercion and strangulation.

The biggest legal change is the addition of four counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. Oregon law classifies that offense as a Class A felony, and it is one of the crimes covered by Measure 11, which means a conviction carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years and 10 months with no reduction for good behavior. Measure 11 was approved by Oregon voters in November 1994 and took effect for crimes committed on or after April 1, 1995. Later legislation added using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct to the Measure 11 list.

District Attorney Greg Baxter said he brought that charge to the grand jury because Swanlund is accused of encouraging the girl to send him photos that were then used in what the law describes as a lewd and lascivious manner. Baxter also said the state is not alleging the photos were posted publicly online. The indictment also includes seven misdemeanor counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, a charge not in the original list.

Swanlund was arrested April 23 during a traffic stop on Highway 86 and has remained in the Baker County Jail on $600,000 bail. Judge Matt Shirtcliff set that bail, and Baxter asked for a hearing before any release on a 10% posting. Swanlund was arraigned Friday, May 1, with William Thomson appointed to represent him. Judge Robert Raschio denied a defense motion to disqualify Shirtcliff.

Deputies began investigating in March after receiving a report from the girl’s mother on March 30. The Baker County Sheriff’s Office said the abuse appeared to have started around May 1, 2024, and continued for nearly two years before it was reported. Deputies later searched Swanlund’s Failing Avenue home under warrant, with help from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Baker City Police Department.

Sheriff’s deputies have said they are concerned there may be additional victims, and anyone with information has been asked to contact Baker County Dispatch. The indictment now places the case squarely in the realm of long prison exposure, sex-offender registration implications and a trial process that could still widen if more victims come forward.