Earlier this year, Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office Detectives Kris Wood and Martin Zepeda began a sexual crime investigation involving an adult male suspect and two juvenile female victims. Through the investigation, the suspect was identified as 19-year-old, Elias Andrew Friend. At the time, the suspect was a transient living in south Tillamook County but had listed his address at a location in Tillamook.
“We learned that an adult male by the name of Elias Andrew Friend had taken two juvenile females to his tent in January, where he gave them alcohol and sexually assaulted them both,” said TCSO Detective Kris Wood, lead investigator for this case. “Elias was living in a tent just south of Beaver on vacant property.”
Detectives were able to learn the location of the tent, and they obtained a search warrant and seized the tent. Evidence inside the tent confirmed that Elias Andrew Friend and the two juvenile females had been in the tent.
On January 23rd, 2024 TCSO Detectives arrested Elias Andrew Friend and charged him with two counts of Using a Child in a Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct and two counts of Rape III. Using a Child in a Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct is a Measure 11 crime and comes with severe prison time if convicted.
On June 27, 2024, Elias Andrew Friend pleaded guilty to 1 count of Attempted Using a Child in Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct and all other charges were dismissed. Elias Andrew Friend received a sentence of 36 months in Oregon’s Department of Corrections, but received credit for the seven months time-served in the Tillamook County Jail. Elias Andrew Friend must register as a Sex Offender but is eligible for early release with post-prison supervision.