UPDATE: Former Reporter Vindicated On Child Porn Charges
Michael P. Neufeld | Dec 07, 2012 | Comments 0
Former newspaper reporter — Samuel Hershel Clauder II — has been vindicated on child porn charges and the court records ordered destroyed.
By Michael P. Neufeld
UPDATE – Friday, December 7 – 1:53 p.m.
San Bernardino, CA – The arrest record and criminal child porn case against a former reporter have been ordered sealed and then destroyed.
Superior Court Judge Glenn Yabuna granted a motion Friday, December 7, by Samuel Hershel Clauder II’s attorney to seal the documents and then have then destroyed. The action followed the admission by Clauder’s son, Trey Stancher, earlier this year that he installed child porn images on his father’s computer in 2009 at their residence in Crestline.
At the time, Clauder had moved out of the house and was working as an aide to Congressman Joe Baca (D-San Bernardino). Previously he worked for two different mountain newspapers as a reporter.
Clauder’s attorney — Rajan Maline — indicated Clauder spent 50 days in a San Bernardino County jail and spent in excess of $40,000 to defend himself and clear his name.
ORIGINAL STORY
San Bernardino, CA -Child pornography charges against a former news reporter have been dismissed.
The case against Samuel Hershel Clauder II, 60, on the charges dating back to February 24, 2009, was dismissed “in the interest of justice” after Deputy District Attorney Maryanne Choi made the motion to dismiss.
Clauder, a former reporter for two different mountain newspapers, addressed Judge R. Glenn Yabuno’s court after the motion was approved on Friday, September 28. The case had been scheduled to go to trial on Monday, October 1.
ORIGINAL CHARGES
Clauder, who also served a time as spokesperson and finance chair for the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee, had been charged in February 2009 with felony possession of child pornography found on his computer in a Crestline residence he once occupied with his ex-wife, Lana. Those images were discovered in April 2008.
From the beginning, Clauder maintained his innocence and his attorney (Rajan Maline) had claimed the images were planted on the computer after he vacated the home, according to court documents.
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