Salem Police Need Help Locating Alleged Child Sex Offender

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mr. Ballew is asked to call Detective Mark Williamson at 503-588-6050 ext 7150.

58-year old Jessie Lincoln Ballew Images: Salem Police

(SALEM, Ore.) - Police Detectives are asking for help locating a man who they say sexually abused his 7-year-old granddaughter. Salem Police Spokesman Lt. Bill Kohlmeyer says 58-year old Jessie Lincoln Ballew took his personal computer to a Salem computer store for repairs on April 4th because he was unable to burn photographs to a CD.

"When the repairman who examined the computer found 10 naked pictures of a 3-5 year old girl on the computer he contacted the Salem Police Department."

Kohlmeyer says that with the information provided by the repairman, Salem Police Detective Mark Williamson was able to obtain a search warrant from Marion County Circuit Court to conduct a further search of the computer.

The warrant was issued on April 5th. Kohlmeyer says a forensic examination of the computer was conducted by Detective Bill Wiltse. "The photos did not appear to have been downloaded from the internet, rather they appeared to have been recently taken photos."

Detectives made a copy of just the little girl's face in an effort to identify her. Later that day they made contact at the address Ballew had given, which turned out to be his daughter's address. Although he was not there, they learned from his daughter's mother in law that the little girl in the picture was Ballew's seven year old granddaughter. "They also learned that Ballew did not live there and was living in a motor home however she didn't know where it was parked," Kohlmeyer said.

"In the mean time Ballew had been calling the computer shop and when he found out the police had his computer he hung up. His daughter got a call from him later that day saying he was going to leave the area because someone was trying to kill him."

Kohlmeyer says the detectives met with the parents of the little girl and learned where Ballew had parked the motor home. They obtained a search warrant for the motor home which produced additional evidence, however Ballew was gone. "We have been unable to locate Ballew since then and feel he could be anywhere. He has not been picking up his Social Security disability checks." Jessie Lincoln Ballew is described as a white male, 58 years old, who stands 6'0", and weighs 240 pounds. He has brown hair, brown eyes. The following warrants for Ballew's arrest from Marion County Circuit Court have been issued:

He faces 3 counts of Using a Child in Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct, a class A Felony, 1 count of first-degree Sex Abuse, a class B Felony and 2 counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse 1, which is a class B Felony. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mr. Ballew is asked to call Detective Mark Williamson at 503-588-6050 ext 7150.