LAKEPORT ? Lake County Juvenile Court public defender Robert Wayne Wiley was arrested Thursday for possession of child pornography, a felony under California Penal Code 311.11 (a).
“We”ll have no comment until the investigation is concluded,” said Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins Monday. He wouldn”t comment on any of the evidence or say what legal steps are being taken, only that the investigation is ongoing. Wiley has no date set for arraignment; he posted $10,000 bail the same day of his 3 p.m. arrest last week. “He won”t be due for arraignment until charges are filed, if they are filed at all,” Hopkins said.
Wiley”s contracts with the county and state for juvenile public defense were both “mutually terminated” on Friday, according to the contract holders. Mary E. Smith, CEO of Lake County Superior Court confirmed that Wiley”s contract with the state to provide juvenile dependency services was canceled in a Friday meeting at his Lakeport office.
Dependency services, Hopkins said, come into play when a there is a request by the court to remove children from the home.
“The superior court is extremely concerned about the allegations against Mr. Robert Wiley, and an atty who provides legal representation in juvenile cases before the court,” Smith said. “The court is investigating the situation and will take all necessary and appropriate action to protect the interests of the juveniles in the court system in our county.”
Wiley also was a juvenile delinquency attorney for Lake County”s public defender system, administered by Steven Carter through Lake Legal Defense Services. Carter said he met with Wiley before the court day began on Friday and mutually agreed with him to terminate the contract.
The principle reason being that in terms of the juvenile defense program, he was juvenile attorney. I thought it most appropriate to terminate the contract immediately because of the sensitive nature of juvenile defense and those allegations,” Carter said.
Jennifer Jones of Upper Lake said Wiley defended her son until approximately two weeks ago, when she hired a private attorney. While she said she didn”t believe Wiley took advantage of her son, she said she saw him yelling at her son in court, something she said showed a lack of professionalism.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
