MEDFORD, Ore. — A therapist testified Tuesday that the half-brother of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis refused to acknowledge he has a problem with child pornography and was not ready to move into court-ordered treatment for his conviction on charges he kept a collection of pictures of naked boys.
The testimony came during a hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court on whether to revoke probation for James Auchincloss and send him to prison for up to a year and a half. He has already gone to jail twice in an effort to persuade him to cooperate more fully with his treatment program. He remained under house arrest at his home in Ashland.
Auchincloss, 64, pleaded guilty last August to two felony counts of encouraging child sexual abuse for having computer images of naked boys.
As a boy, he was a page in the wedding of his half-sister when she married John F. Kennedy.
Pennie Farrell, a psychologist running group therapy sessions for people convicted of sex crimes, testified that Auchincloss failed to complete the steps necessary before taking a lie detector test designed to disclose all his past sexual deviances so a treatment program could be created for him. He regularly refused to answer direct questions, sought sympathy, viewed himself as a victim and tried to blame others for his problems, she said.
“He struggled a lot with what he did do and didn’t do, and what was pornographic,” Farrell said under questioning by assistant district attorney David Hoppe. “He stated that was awkward for him and embarrassing for him.”
Farrell said Auchincloss told her that he had shrink-wrapped the portion of his collection that was not seized by police and put it in a storage unit.
“My concern was Mr. Auchincloss presented with no desire to quit pornography,” she added. “He planned, by his statement, on going back to using it again after treatment.”
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Carl Caplan, Farrell acknowledged that the only time Auchincloss was asked directly about viewing child pornography, the polygraph indicated he was telling the truth when he said he had not. She added that in her letter recommending Auchincloss be dropped from treatment, she had not included that information.
Caplan stressed in his questioning that despite the publicity about the case, no one had come forward to report being molested by Auchincloss.
Probation officer Glen Sandy testified that based on Farrell’s evaluation, he recommended revoking probation and sending Auchincloss to prison.
Farrell said she was so concerned about Auchincloss’ refusal to cooperate that she gave him tests to see if he was mentally deficient or suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She said the tests showed he was depressed, dependent on others and passive-aggressive but otherwise of average or greater intelligence.
Judge Tim Gerking postponed the hearing until June 7, when the defense will call another psychologist who evaluated Auchincloss.
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