Convicted Paso Robles pedophile will spend the rest of his life in prison, SLO judge says
A Paso Robles man convicted of sexually abusing children and videotaping his crimes was sentenced Monday to more than 280 years in prison.
Pending any appellate issues, Jason Robert Porter, 49, will likely never be released from prison.
Porter faced a maximum sentence of roughly 300 years to life in state prison for the more than 50 charges he faced.
Porter’s sentencing comes exactly five years after his arrest. The case was the longest ongoing criminal proceeding in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
Monday’s hearing also comes less than a month since the conclusion of Porter’s two-week bench trial — he elected not to go before a jury — during which San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Barry LaBarbera listened to difficult testimony from a couple of Porter’s former friends, as well as their 11-year-old daughter, and seeing video evidence that LaBarbera called “hard to watch.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve seen a lot of things, and this for me was very difficult to watch,” LaBarbera said on Monday. “This was horrific, dastardly conduct. ... Not only were the victims particularly young, a lot of the conduct was committed while they were sleeping.”
The trial featured hours of testimony from investigators about more than 20,000 images and videos that showed Porter sexually touching children, and secretly filming both children and adults as they used a restroom at the Porter family’s home.
Porter was convicted June 2 of 52 criminal counts, including 16 felony charges of committing sex acts on a child and possession of child pornography, as well as dozens of misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy.
Each felony conviction carried a maximum penalty of either 25 years to life or 15 years to life.
LaBarbera agreed with San Luis Obispo County deputy district attorney Melissa Chabra in finding that Porter must serve his sentences for each separate felony conviction consecutively.
All told, Porter was sentenced to 280 years to life, plus an additional five years for the misdemeanor counts.
Porter did not make a statement in court Monday.
The charging document in the case lists four child victims of physical sexual abuse who were between the ages of 1 and 13 at the time of the crimes. An additional 36 victims were identified in film and photo evidence recovered from Porter’s devices, the county District Attorney’s Office says.
“I am pleased that after five long years, I was able to be a part of the team to finally deliver justice to all of the survivors involved,” Chabra, who is assigned to the District Attorney’s Office’s Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit, said in a new release after the hearing. “The young victim’s bravery while testifying in court in front of her abuser inspires me to continue my work on these cases and fight for justice for all survivors of sexual abuse in our county.”
Mother of victim caught defendant in the act
Porter was arrested in June 2016 after allegedly being caught by a former friend and neighbor taking cell phone photos under her then-4-year-old daughter’s dress.
He was arrested a second time weeks later after investigators found tens of thousands of images and videos of children engaging in sexual acts, including some allegedly showing Porter molesting children, during a search of his home and electronic devices.
The now-11-year-old survivor testified at the trial about an incident in which Porter sexually molested and photographed her while she pretended to be asleep.
Evidence presented during the trial shows that Porter installed a video camera in the bathroom of the home he shared with his parents in Paso Robles, where his family would regularly host pool parties for neighbors and other family and their kids. That footage was also found during the search.
Victim’s advocate speaks in court: ‘Justice will be served today’
Before sentencing Porter, LaBarbera heard impact statements from several parents of Porter’s victims, who said they have waited patiently for justice for more than five years.
The mother of the 11-year-old girl was among the speakers, telling LaBarbera that Porter knew the difference between right and wrong, and that she’s “disgusted I once considered Jason Porter a friend.”
She also said that she’s haunted with the feeling that she failed her children.
“The failing, the horror, is indescribable,” the woman, who The Tribune is not identifying, told the judge.
The woman’s husband, who submitted a statement to the court, wrote that Porter “took away (his daughter’s) innocence.” But the man also said he “stood in amazement” at the “strength and courage” of his wife and daughter, both of whom testified in the trial.
Tina Swithin, Porter’s former sister-in-law, told LaBarbera that her family has been victimized by Porter and his family members for two decades.
Swithin, a local author and advocate for survivors of domestic abuse, had tried in vain to convince the local family court to keep her children away from Jason Porter during her custody battle with Porter’s brother, Damien.
A Tribune investigation in 2016 found that Damien and Margaret Porter, Jason’s mother, were successful in arguing for Swithin’s young children to be allowed at the Porter family’s home — and around Jason Porter — when the father had custody.
Swithin reminded the court Monday that she specifically reported to family court that Jason Porter had “made out” with a 14-year-old girl at a wedding, made statements about raping and murdering women and exhibited other volatile behavior including abusing a puppy.
Swithin said that the “complete and utter failure of the family court system” forced her to drop her children off at the Porters’ “house of horrors” for family visits.
She said Jason Porter’s callousness continued throughout the court process, especially after he fired his attorney and filed dozens of sometimes frivolous and ultimately unsuccessful motions while he represented himself in court for a period of two years.
“Justice will be served today and I am no longer afraid of you,” Swithin said.
Jason Porter stared straight ahead, swiveling in his chair, and didn’t look at Swithin as she spoke.
Swithin’s husband, Glenn Simpson, has attended every hearing in the case. In addition to the District Attorney’s Office and local attorney Gregory Francisco Gillett, Simpson had been a victim’s advocate and relayed information about proceedings to multiple victim families.
Simpson told LaBarbera that his family will forever be affected by the case. He said Porter continues to show no remorse for his crimes and asked for the maximum sentence.
Parole will never be an issue, judge says
In explaining his sentencing, LaBarbera cited Simpson’s statement, which he called “striking.”
“To make sure that (Porter) never gets released, (consecutive sentences) is not necessary,” LaBarbera said, but “consecutive sentencing is a way to acknowledge what the defendant did to the survivors.”
Regarding the survivors, LaBarbera said that as they grow up and learn about what Porter did, it will undoubtedly affect them for the rest of their lives.
“I’m hoping that they will continue to survive and that their parents will support them,” he said.
LaBarbera said that Porter committed crimes with a high degree of cruelty, that his victims were especially vulnerable and that he continues to be a danger to society.
When asked by Chabra about a superfluous parole requirement contained in a San Luis Obispo County probation report, LaBarbera said, “that’s not really going to happen.”
Porter has remained in San Luis Obispo County Jail since his second arrest, with bail posted at $7 million.
Following his sentencing, Porter will be transferred in the coming weeks to the custody of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for placement in a state prison.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 4:16 PM.
