CHILD MOLESTER SENT TO PRISON GOODFELLOW TO SERVE 210 MONTHS FOR YEARS OF ABUSING BOYS

Section: THE REGION, April 2, 1998
Page: B1
Author: Bill Morlin Staff writer

A Spokane man who videotaped his sexual assaults on boys in his Shadle Park neighborhood was sentenced Wednesday to more than 17 years in prison.

The case against pedophile William Clark Goodfellow was difficult to prosecute because four victims - all boys - were reluctant to talk, authorities say.
None of the victims appeared in court to see the man who took them hunting and fishing. He was sent to prison for 210 months.

``I'll never be able to forgive this man for what he did to my son,'' the mother of one of the victims said in a letter read in court.

Deputy Prosecutor Patti Connolly-Walker said she was ``astounded in the way these victims were reluctant to participate.''

``There's still a lot of stigma attached to male victims in rape cases like this,'' she said.

Society better understands the plight of female rape victims, but still doesn't fully appreciate that men and boys can be similarly victimized, Connolly-Walker said.

``It's easy for young boys to blame themselves for being involved in something like this,'' the prosecutor said.

``They were just children and they don't realize they were victims.''

Police got involved when one of the victims, who was 13, told a counselor last fall that he'd been sexually assaulted by Goodfellow, who worked as a cable TV installer.

Detectives learned the conduct had occurred for at least eight years, and maybe longer.

Goodfellow, 51, videotaped his sexual encounters with the boys, who were between 6 and 13, and the child pornography may have gone on the Internet, the prosecutor said.

When police searched Goodfellow's home on North Walnut last fall, they found 2,680 child pornography pictures he had downloaded from the Internet.

They also found child-porn videos and magazines.

The prosecutor said investigators don't know what Goodfellow did with photos and videos he took of his victims.

``They may be re-victimized if he put these pictures of the boys on the Internet,'' Connolly-Walker said.

Goodfellow pleaded guilty in late January to seven of 10 felony charges after the prosecutor agreed to dismiss three charges.

``He indicated that he believes himself to be a monster,'' defense attorney Tracy Collins told Superior Court Judge James Murphy.

Under the plea bargain, the prosecutor agreed to recommend 210 months, 70 months less than the maximum Goodfellow could have gotten.

The judge agreed to allow the plea bargain, which kept the victims from appearing in court and saved taxpayers the cost of a trial.

The prosecution also agreed not to refer the case to federal prosecutors who could bring additional child-porn charges against Goodfellow.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree child rape, and two counts of second-degree child rape.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Those charges covered computer images, videos and magazines containing child porn.

In 1976, Goodfellow was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to taking indecent liberties with young boys he met through the Big Brothers organization.

Goodfellow had little to say at sentencing.

``I want to apologize to my victims and their families,'' he said. ``I want some help.''

After he completes a portion of his prison term, he will be eligible for sexual offender treatment at the state's Twin Rivers facility in Western Washington.

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