Cop who threatened ex-wife's boyfriend with gun pleads guilty
VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A Portland police officer who threatened his ex-wife’s new boyfriend with a gun in October 2011 was sentenced Thursday to serve 15 days on a jail work crew.
James Botaitis pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to possession of a dangerous weapon and gross misdemeanor harassment. He must report to work crew within 24 hours of his sentence.
If Botaitis violates the terms of his probation any time in the next two years, he could go to jail for 349 days.
Officer Botaitis, a 10-year veteran assigned to the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct, remains on administrative leave as an internal affairs investigation of him remains open, said Portland Police Sgt. Pete Simpson.
Simpson said he did not know the timeline of that investigation, nor whether Botaitis would face any discipline with the bureau.
Botaitis was arrested on Oct. 24, 2011, after he went to the Vancouver apartment of his ex-wife, pointed a gun at her boyfriend and threatened to kill him. The boyfriend was a registered sex offender, and family members have said Botaitis intended to protect his 7-year-old son.
Following the confrontation, Botaitis holstered his pistol and eventually left the apartment. No one was hurt.
Prosecutors initially charged Botaitis with second-degree assault, a Class B felony.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson said prosecutors had concerns taking the case to trial on assault charges. The main concern was there was evidence that could have been used to discredit both Botaitis' ex-wife and her boyfriend, he said.
Here's the saddest thing about our current society.............. A father is condemned for trying to protect his son from a "child sex predator" (which couldn't be done for his previous victim), but yet, suspend a 5-year old from school (who, by the way can't even pronounce "suspend") for displaying his "finger gun" while playing. So there's 100% "tolerence" of child sex predators, and 0% "tolerence" of kids being kids!Â
"Simpson said he did not know the timeline of that investigation, nor whether Botaitis would face any discipline with the bureau."
Really? What is there to think about? This guy obviously shouldn't be a cop.
This comment has been deleted
@Dr. Rawdog Yes, Mr. Bacus did serve his punishment.  Personally, I still would not be okay with him in close proximity to my 7 year old son.  With only a piece of paper stating that he needs to keep away separating him from harming my son, I'm not going to rest on "Served his debt to society".  We all have seen those stories of offenders re-offending after have served their debt to society.  Are Sex Offenders EVER rehabilitated to the point that you would want them close to your children?
If Jim was such a great guy, he would not have lost custody of this son to his ex. What were the terms of the divorce? If she had allowed the child to come near the registered sex offender, that should have been discussed with a judge.
@dynamited77 He NEVER lost custody of his son! She DID!
@dynamited77 Wildass speculation for the sole purpose of degrading Jim's character, is what that is.
Go ahead and make stuff up to make the rapist look better than the father.
ummm...father pulls a gun on the guy for what...again?
Another control freak cop.
This comment has been deleted
@Ken Ling If it were my son and my ex-wife was dating someone like Mr. Bacus, I'm fairly certain that I too would have made it crystal clear to Mr. Bacus that I would be more than willing to reciprocate any harm done to my son.  Even if it meant that I may lose my job and/or be subjected to punishment, I would have.....informed him.  Before you pass judgement on the sentence handed down by the courts, you may want to reflect on the offending action and the root causes.Â
This comment has been deleted
@Dr. Rawdog I do not support this form of reciprocity doctor.
@Dr. Rawdog I guess I can see where I may have confused you with my choice of the vernacular usage. Maybe I should have said something more along the lines of "Respond to any harm done to my son with life changing force".  Does that help with my point?
@Dr. Rawdog @JerkyBob Oh, look who's clever. Isn't that cute, everybody?  ziiing.Â
@Dr. Rawdog @JerkyBob @Ken Ling um...no. Ew, just Ew.  You may be taking my comment a little too liberally.  This may help you to better understand what I meant,Â
re·cip·ro·cate - Verb
I think he should get custody of the child the mother is FELONY STUPID for letting the child stay in a situation around a convicted child rapist. DUH!!!!
Of course he should not be charged with a felony... And of course he should have his job back, and of course he should be able to take the law into his own hands... Why, because he's a cop... That's how it rolls in America !
@dougrpdx Or because he is a father.
@JerkyBob @dougrpdx Uhhh...I'm pretty sure laws apply to people whether they're a father or not.  Same with cops, except those laws aren't always enforced quite the same way.
@Sundowner You're absolutely correct, there ARE quite a few F**ktards out there with badges but my argument is that remove the badge from the situation/story and it is just a father with fears, fears he is willing to act upon with force.  I'm not in LE and can't say that I wouldn't act in a similar manner IF I was confronted with this scenario. Â
As for the Mother getting custody, isn't it normal policy for the courts to award custody to the Mother in divorce proceedings? Â I'm not sure on this one though.
@JerkyBob I "get" the concern about him being a sex offender and what emotions that would evoke, but I also "get" that there are a ****load of bullies with badges out there, including this no-chin guy.  There's more to this story that they're not telling....the mother didn't get custody without some kind of review by a court.  Just sayin'.
@Sundowner That was my point exactly, the law applies to everyone and the punishment should be meted out equally.  It could be said that Officer Botaitis acted as a father and not as a Cop when threatening Mr. Bacus due to the perceived danger Mr. Bacus brought to the situation.  You are correct, at times it seems as though LE cases are handled differently but then again, they also bring quite a bit more representation to the table for defense.
KOIN TV reported on10/28/11:Â "Court documents show Danielle Botaitis is dating convicted child rapist David Bacus, who was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for raping a relative over the course of several years.
Though immediately following the hearing, sister-in-law Rebecca Botaitis, read a prepared statement from the family.
âJamesâ 7-year-old son is really what is at the heart of this matter,â she said. âEvery parent should be able to protect their child from a sexual predator. There are a lot of facts about this case that have not been publicized, please consider there is more to the story.â
Court papers reveal Bacus isnât supposed to have any contact with minors, and a parenting plan signed off by a Clark County judge October 10 specifically cites no contact by Bacus with Botaitisâ son. Though a probable cause affidavit released by Vancouver police doesnât say whether that happened."
I referenced the old article from KOIN, because people don't research the FACTS! Same with KPTV. They only go by what's in front of them at the moment, which may not explain everything from the beginning. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink" theory.Â
He should have done the same thing that all of us LAW ABIDING CITIZENS are advised to do by LEO's: CONTACT THE POLICE with his suspicions and let the legal process work it out. Since he felt the need to take the law into his own hands and act OUTSIDE the law, we learn 2 things: 1) He knows the law is broken and we can not expect to be saved by the law. 2) He is not fit to be a LEO.
@scared_citizen You don't even deserve a response! But, I'll give you one anyway. It's MY KID, and what law "protected" the other child from being abused for years??? YOU do the math! I would GLADLY do whatever it takes to save my child!
This comment has been deleted
@Dr. Rawdog @Shintagirl KOIN did actually shed more light on the story whereas KATU only conveyed the bare minimum.
@Dr. Rawdog @Shintagirl For the same reason people only listen to Alex Jones or Air America.
You only listen to people tell you what you want to hear.Â
not true...we listen/read to what you've got/spew
And, for those who are unaware of the "registered sex-offender boyfriend", here's all you need to know...............
"Public records show David Bacus is a registered sex offender, convicted of child rape in 1999. Court orders bar Bacus from having any contact with Botaitis' son."Â As printed on KPTV's news page.
This comment has been deleted
@Dr. Rawdog @Shintagirl The rest of us are interested in all of the information, not picking our favorite news sites and being an jack-hole to people who share other sides of the story.
You're a typical gun-control liberal. Give you just a lit bit of a soapbox and watch what happens.
@Shintagirl Thank you for sharing that.
We live in a time where a known predator of women is caught and released seven times since May of 2011 because laws protect him, and not the public he repeatedly and predictably victimized.
It is time for a reckoning. The law and our politicians are failing to protect our children. They blame guns, they blame gays, they blame pot, they blame teachers, they blame taxpayers. It doesn't work anymore. People have simply had enough. If a rapist can't be kept in jail and we can't protect ourselves because of laws designed to gather votes, not justice, then we are on our own.
I know this man, and he is one of the kindest, most caring people that I know. He loves his son more than anything in the world, and this evil woman has been trying to make both their lives a living hell! He showed way more restraint than I could have, and has followed the orders of the court to a "T". You people have no idea what he and his son have been through, and I am one who is "honored" to call him my friend. He took an oath to "Serve and Protect", which applies to everyone .... including his family! Godspeed James!Â
As a LEO, he is EXPECTED to work inside the law, not as a vigilante. As a LEO, he should know the law and if we keep those things in mind, his actions show us that he knows the law wont protect us or our children and we need to arm ourselves to protect ourselves and our children.
@Shintagirl Tell me more
The main concern was there was evidence that could have been used to discredit both Botaitis' ex-wife and her boyfriend, he said.
So the cop was okay to pull his gun to scare off the sex offender?
@Lost River The sex offender should be crucified in the courtyard of the state pen. This should not be looked at as a cop/civilian thing.  This is a father thing.Â
@Lost River Yeah
See, guns make people think they are powerful. It gives them an excuse not to learn how to communicate well and learn emotional maturity.
@twoeyes Child rapists don't need communication or emotional maturity from the community. They need to be destroyed, and in the meantime they need to feel extremely lucky that modern society tolerates them.
Did you hear that on average 156 sex offenders move to Oregon each year because of lax reporting laws? Did you know that there's a rapist back in jail for the eight time since May of 2011, who the police KNEW was stalking women but weren't allowed to do anything about it?  That guy assaulted at least half a dozen women in the last two years but people like you are afraid of freakin' GUNS. Â
I hope you have a daughter to worry about. If she's being beaten up or raped and afraid she's going to die, just remember that you should learn to communicate and learn emotional maturity. Because you failed her.
I agree that it would be hard as a father to stand by and let this take place, he had the additional burden of being a LEO and as such, he would be required to act within the law he has sworn to uphold. His actions, while somewhat understandable, demand that he find alternate employment and his right to possess guns be taken from him.
@twoeyes guns are a equalizer
Just wondering: is it the law that all police officers have to look just like this guy does?
@stephcra Â
Kinda looks like a Catholic Priest Boy Scout with a no-window panel van and a pocket full of candy...right?
@Icarus @stephcra Wow. So, you're heaping criticism on an overreactive father simply trying to protect his child from a convicted sex predator based on what he looks like, as if HE is the child predator.
I'm disgusted by that.Â
Wow. We agree on something.
@Playanekes @Icarus @stephcra @Dr. Rawdog An "overreactive father"?  Regardless of the reason, the guy showed up uninvited at someone else's home (their castle?), threatened a person in that home and pulled a gun on them.  Cop or not, father or not, that's vigilante justice and it's illegal to take the law into your own hands.  Are there just select parts of the Constitution you don't understand, or do you pick and choose which ones meet your standards? Â
This comment has been deleted
@brautigan Wow. Penis-size jokes.  I guess it's okay that she's hanging out with a child rapist.
What in the hell is wrong with people?!  If you ever have a daughter who is victimized and you warn a convicted rapist to leave her alone, just remember that the liberals think you have a small weenie.  It's like Rockwood Middle School all over again.
@Playanekes Weird...."Rockwood" was my porn name in the late 70's.Â
@Ken Ling @Playanekes There are five registered sex offenders within a couple of blocks of H.B. Lee Middle School.Â
He should get a medal ...and the ex-wife should go to jail for having a registered sex offender around her child
Speaking of out of control cops, here is another one.
@RalphCramden I think he showed control
@RalphCramden Â
And, you realize that the defense in this case is just as thin as the phone stealing bully cop. They just blame the victim on the thinnest of premises and get away with a Civil Rights abuse and assualt and plead the whole thing down to a misdemeanor. Â
It if was a regular guy the negotiated plea would be Felony Conviction without jail time which means no gun ownership and very restricted job opportunities.
@Icarus
Preferential treatment for cops from cops.
@RalphCramden @Icarus Preferential treatment for fathers from fathers?