A 55-year-old Marion County man will spend the rest of his adult life behind bars after being sentenced to 450 months — more than 37 years — in prison for repeatedly raping and sexually abusing a teenage family friend over a four-year span. Daniel A. Long was convicted on three counts of first-degree rape, three counts of first-degree sodomy, third-degree sodomy, and third-degree sexual abuse.
According to the Marion County District Attorney's Office, Long began abusing the girl when she was just 14 years old, exploiting his personal relationship with her family to keep her silent for years. Investigators say Long threatened to harm the victim and her family if she ever spoke about what was happening to her.
The abuse continued for more than four years before the victim came forward, according to the district attorney's office. She found the strength to speak out only after entering a stable, healthy relationship of her own, which the office says gave her the confidence to finally disclose the abuse she had endured.
A Prosecutor's Words for the Survivor
Marion County District Attorney-elect Brendan P. Murphy, whose appointment by Governor Tina Kotek is effective October 1, 2026, according to Oregon.gov, spoke directly to the dynamics that kept the victim quiet for so long. Murphy said sexual assault victims can be subjected to extensive manipulation by the very people they trust, and that it takes extreme acts of courage for victims to come forward at all. He also said he wished the victim healing as she moves forward with her life.
The pattern described in this case — a trusted adult leveraging a personal relationship to silence a young victim — lines up with what national researchers have found about how these crimes typically unfold. Delayed disclosure is a common trauma response among sexual assault survivors, frequently driven by threats, emotional manipulation, or coercive dependency imposed by trusted adults, according to research published by RAINN. Fifty-nine percent of child sexual-abuse survivors are ages 12 to 17.
Why the Sentence Cannot Be Reduced
Long's 450-month sentence is the direct result of Oregon's Ballot Measure 11, the mandatory-minimum sentencing law passed by voters in 1994. Under that law, convictions for first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy each carry a mandatory minimum of 100 months, or roughly eight years and four months, and judges have no discretion to impose anything less, per Rose City Law.
Both first-degree rape under ORS 163.375 and first-degree sodomy under ORS 163.405 are classified as Class A felonies in Oregon, carrying maximum statutory penalties of up to 20 years in prison per count, according to Siefman Law LLC. Because Long was convicted under Measure 11, Oregon Department of Corrections policy also mandates that he is legally ineligible for earned-time credits or early parole — meaning he will serve every day of his 37.5-year term rather than qualifying for any reduction through good behavior.
Long's sentencing follows a string of other severe penalties handed down recently in Marion County Circuit Court for crimes against children and vulnerable victims. In April, Judge Manuel Perez sentenced 36-year-old Michael Ryan Sims to 125 months after Sims pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes against a 12-year-old child relative. Earlier this month, the court sentenced 20-year-old Jonathan Muhire to 25 years in prison with lifetime supervision after he pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault charges.
