Suspect arraigned in Canby child kidnapping, assault case

OREGON CITY, Ore. (KPTV) — A 36-year-old man was arraigned Thursday on an indictment charging him with attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, burglary, and several other felony counts in connection with the abduction and assault of two young sisters in Canby.

Vince Edgar Chavez entered a not guilty plea through his defense attorney, Brian Schmonsees, in Clackamas County Circuit Court before Judge Heather Karabeika.

Chavez faces charges of attempted murder in the first degree, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, four counts of first-degree sodomy, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, and strangulation. He is accused of assaulting a 12-year-old girl and taking her 10-year-old stepsister from their Canby home on Oct. 28, later sexually assaulting the 10-year-old.

Chavez is being held without bail at the Clackamas County Jail. A three-hour preventive detention hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1 at 9 a.m. to determine whether bail will be set, at which point a trial date will also be scheduled. Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owen and Deputy District Attorney Josh Cutino are prosecuting the case.

The Clackamas County DA told reporters that the 10-year-old victim’s 12-year-old sister was beaten in the head with a hammer during the adduction and has a traumatic brain injury.

The arraignment comes after the victims’ maternal grandmother shared new details about the night of the attack with FOX 12.

According to the grandmother, the girls were sleeping in the living room of their unit at the Orchards Apartments in Canby when a man broke in just before 2 a.m. The girls’ mother, who was asleep in another room, woke up to a man’s voice and found her 12-year-old daughter unconscious and bleeding after being hit multiple times with a hammer. As she checked the room, she saw the intruder taking her 10-year-old daughter out of the apartment.

The mother looked outside and saw a white van parked near the home before calling 911.

The grandmother said her daughter previously met Chavez through a dating website several months ago and dated him for about two weeks, but broke things off after becoming uncomfortable with his focus on the 10-year-old.

Officers searched for the 10-year-old for roughly 13 hours before finding her alive inside a closet, duct-taped in a duffel bag, at an Oregon City home where investigators said Chavez was renting a room.

Chavez was arrested at the scene. The grandmother said the 10-year-old is now staying with her father as both sisters begin their physical and emotional recovery.