Former Boy Scouts leader arrested for sexual abuse of minor in Marion County
A former Boy Scouts leader has been charged with sexually abusing a minor in Salem over several years.
Prosecutors charged Terry J. Heck, 56 of Salem, on Friday with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor, according to court documents.
The charges allege that Heck subjected a boy to sexual contact between January 2017 and July 2023.
He is also accused of communicating with the victim online to solicit sexual contact during that period, court records showed.
The victim was 11 years old when the abuse began in 2017, the Salem Police Department said in a news release Friday.
Detectives learned Heck was a leader with the Boy Scouts organization at the time and “exhibited stalking behavior via social media in the years that followed,” according to the statement. Police said a detective posing as the minor communicated with Heck on social media, “which resulted in numerous messages of a sexual nature.”
Salem detectives arrested Heck Thursday evening, when he had arranged to meet the victim.
He was booked into Marion County Jail, where he was being held without bail as of Friday.
Heck was scheduled to be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Marion County Circuit Court.
Police in the statement asked anyone with additional information about the case to contact Detective Sabrina Hunter at 503-588-6050.
Liberty House’s child abuse assessment center assisted with the investigation.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered the justice system and public safety for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
