VANCOUVER, Wash., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A Washington state Bible camp counselor convicted of sexually abusing two children was sentenced to 35 years in prison, lawyers in the case said.
A judge handed down the maximum sentence Tuesday for Michael Scott Norris, 46, who was also convicted of federal child pornography charges stemming from the abuse he inflicted on two siblings, a boy and a girl, he knew as a Bible camp counselor at the Open Bible Church in Portland, Ore. The abuse took place from 2003 to 2006 at the time of his arrest, The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Wash., reported.
A legal dispute rankled proceedings in Norris's case. Norris's lawyer argued he needed to be given possession of the videos of the abuse that were seized by federal agents after Norris's arrest. A new Washington state law, however, prevents prosecutors or police from disseminating child pornography to defense attorneys.
Norris was sentenced to a 25-year prison term in the federal case, time that will be served concurrent to his 35-year local sentence.
