Oregon woman who raped minor boy hundreds of times over 5 years hangs herself in prison after judge refuses bail

A woman accused of raping a minor boy hundreds of times over five years has hanged herself in jail in the state of Oregon. Tina Ketcham, 40, was found dead in Linn County Jail on March 11, just two weeks after she got arrested on multiple child sex abuse charges.
 
“While performing hourly security checks at 5:10 am this morning, corrections deputies found Tina Ketcham hanging in her cell and unresponsive. Deputies immediately entered the cell, activated medics and began life-saving measures. Albany Fire Department paramedics arrived on scene at 05:18 a.m. and soon thereafter pronounced Ms. Ketcham deceased,” said Linn County Sheriff Jim Yon.
 
Yon added, “The Benton County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with the Linn County Medical Examiner, is conducting an investigation. There will be no further release of information or comment until the investigation is complete."
 
The 40-year-old reportedly raped a little boy several times between 2015 and January 2020. The alleged crime came to the police’s notice when the boy approached them. However, authorities have not disclosed how the boy was related to the woman, though it is clear the minor was known to her when the abuse began.
 
Ketcham was facing six counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sex abuse, a count of first-degree sodomy and six other sex offenses. Prosecutor Keith Stein had told a court in Albany, New York, that the current charges against Ketcham only represented a fraction of her alleged abuse as he said: “This is a situation where hundreds of charges could have been brought.”
 
The Albany woman had pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was scheduled for a two-day jury trial starting in April. She had also appealed for bail, however, at the bail hearing earlier this month, a judge refused to lower Ketcham’s bail from $350,000 to $50,000. 
 
Her attorney Stephen Doyle had claimed her stake in a local business, which means meant Ketcham was a low flight risk. Doyle had also argued that granting Ketcham bail would mean she could attend counseling sessions. The deceased woman would have spent decades behind bars if convicted of all the charges she faced.