Judge reduces charges against man guilty of sexual assault at MAX station

HILLSBORO, Ore. – Editor’s Note: This story contains videos and descriptions of sexual assault that may be triggering for some readers.

Last spring, a Washington County woman was sexually assaulted by a young man who followed her off a MAX train. The incident was captured on surveillance cameras. But when her attacker pleaded guilty, the woman said she was shocked to learn that a judge had decided to downgrade the man’s main charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Kristen Emerson is a woman in recovery who works as an outreach worker working with the homeless in Washington County.

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According to court testimony, on April 12, 2023, Emerson was on his way home from a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. She went to a MAX station in downtown Hillsboro, where video captured what happened next.

When Emerson arrived, a young man in a gray hoodie was already there – 19-year-old Jacob Ponse. In the video, Ponse appears to notice Emerson arriving and looks over at her several times.

Emerson boarded an eastbound MAX train with Ponse following close behind. He can be seen rubbing his hand over her bottom as she gets on the train.

In a recent one-on-one interview with The Story’s Pat Dooris, Emerson said she acknowledged Ponse — but she wasn’t sure at the time whether she might have accidentally bumped into something.

“I had seen him sitting there and he was in the corner the whole time, just, you know, on the phone,” Emerson said. “But I noticed the pants and the shoes for some reason, just because that was all I saw from where I was standing.”

Emerson got on the train. Video from aboard the MAX car shows Ponse getting in close behind her and then sitting in the aisle across from her.

After a 12-minute ride, the train arrived at the Willow Creek MAX station and Emerson got off. Surveillance cameras show Ponse, still in his gray hoodie, following her.

In court, Washington County Prosecutor Bryce Bissinger described what happened next at the Willow Creek station.

“Then he stands behind her with his left hand, the two middle fingers up, and penetrates her from behind,” said Bissinger.

Emerson recalled that the contact was so forceful that she felt like he was trying to lift her off the ground.

“And I like turned around, and it all happened so quickly, but I turn around and look at him,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure I pushed him – like, ‘What the fuck?!’ And then he slapped me, he hit me on the side, so hard… like it was hard, like he was strong for being a skinny, skinny guy.”

“It was a violation,” Emerson added. “So hurtful. I just think about my daughter or my niece…if something like that happened to them.”

Police rushed to the area, found Ponse and arrested him.

Nearly a year later, on April 2, 2024, Ponse appeared in court shortly before his actual trial on charges of second-degree sexual abuse and third-degree misdemeanor sexual abuse.

During this hearing, things took an unexpected turn. Washington County Judge Janelle Wipper ruled she would upgrade the felony charge to a misdemeanor after Ponse decided to plead guilty to the two original charges.

It is lawful for a judge to use his or her discretion in this way. But attorneys not connected to the case or Washington County told Dooris that typically only happens if the prosecutor offers it as part of a plea agreement. It was highly unusual for a judge to impose the change without being asked.

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The prosecutor was angry about Wipper’s decision and said so in open court.

“Judge, this is a shocking and frankly horrific incident that occurred in broad daylight between a stranger and a victim he was clearly and clearly stalking,” Bissinger argued. “I don’t believe it serves the community to convict this man of a misdemeanor. To be honest, the victim does not agree with this verdict either.”

But defense attorney Annette Riddle argued that the second-degree sexual abuse charge against Ponse was too harsh.

“I had (in) two cases of sexual abuse where the facts were much, much more egregious than this,” Riddle said. “And that’s because the Sexual Abuse Act II covers all non-consensual sexual behavior, including non-consensual intercourse… This is a scary thing that is horrific and horrifying and has absolute shock value.” And when you look at it, it’s horrible, and.” I’m not trying to devalue it in any way, but it’s really different than non-consensual sex.

Judge Wipper agreed with Riddle, although she admitted that she, too, was shocked by the crime.

“Look, I think this is a great example of, ‘Two things can be true at the same time.’ “It is entirely true that this was shocking, horrific and despicable and Ms. Emerson was hurt in a way that absolutely should not have happened,” Wipper said. “It’s something – I share the shocking nature of what was seen in the video and I understand why the state takes the position that it does. However, at the same time, it is also true that this is a person who… was just 19 years old at the time of the incident, has no criminal record and, at least at this point, shows responsibility and remorse for his actions.

“Given factors such as the lack of a criminal record, the desire to take responsibility today and to spare the victim from having to speak in court in front of strangers, in the opinion of this court there is a need to deal with Mr. Ponse promptly if he commits an offense,” Wipper lock.

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Emerson said she was stunned by the judge’s decision and felt the court was more concerned with Ponse, the perpetrator, than with her.

“I was just sick,” Emerson said. “And horrified. I could not believe it. And honestly, everyone who was there that day couldn’t do it – we were all just shocked.”

The prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of 90 days. The judge gave Ponse 30 days. She also ordered him to undergo sex offender treatment, ordered him to register as a sex offender and banned him from TriMet grounds for five years. She placed him on a five-year probation period, which the prosecutor had requested.

But Ponse was not convicted of a crime, and the news to Emerson was devastating.

“Video evidence doesn’t lie,” Emerson said, adding that there was other testimony at trial that supported her account. “(The judge) was like, ‘No, we’re going to put it down to a misdemeanor’…Seriously, it felt like I was in a nightmare. I’ll never understand it. I’ll never understand.”

The Story emailed Wipper requesting an interview or comment on the case. She did not respond, but the presiding judge in Washington County, Judge Rebecca Guptill, responded with a statement. Your answer includes:

“I can see that despite the reduction to a misdemeanor, in many ways the sentences imposed are actually harsher and are likely to be more protective of the community. For example, by reducing the misdemeanor to a misdemeanor, the judge was able to impose five years of formal probation with strict conditions, including a longer period of no contact with the victim, whereas a felony conviction would have resulted in only three years of formal probation, since the defendant had no previous convictions.

Since Ponse was originally charged with both a felony and a misdemeanor, it is unclear whether this may have resulted in the additional penalties that the felony did not impose.

The Story also reached out to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, which issued this statement in part:

“We firmly believe that the predatory conduct in this case warranted a punitive sentence and we stand by all the arguments we made in court for this outcome. The victim in this case and the community at large deserve a system that holds criminals fully accountable.” We have made that argument in this case and will continue to do so in the future.