Former museum director gets five years of probation for abusing underage volunteer

A Lane County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday, Nov. 18, sentenced the former director of a military museum in Florence to five years of probation for sexually abusing an underage volunteer.

Geoffrey Cannon, 27, must also avoid all contact with the girl, who spoke in court Tuesday, before Lane County Circuit Court Judge Debra Vogt handed down the sentence.

“I’m almost 17, carrying more responsibility than he is,” she told the court, pausing before continuing. 

“I have owned up to and faced the consequences of my choices. Geoffrey has blamed me for what happened,” she said, calling this “painful” as well as “annoying.”

“The problem was not me. He was an adult, my mentor, my supervisor, my friend, and he allowed and encouraged this relationship to happen,” she said, later saying “he abused me for almost an entire year.”

Court documents filed in the case stated the abuse took place on or between Aug. 1, 2024, and July 10, 2025.

Cannon served as director of the Oregon Coast Military Museum. After his July arrest, he was placed on paid leave. A statement on the museum’s website announced on Sept. 30 he was terminated from his job.

Published reports of audio from an informal meeting of museum board members and others in July included disparaging remarks made about the girl, leading to a strong public backlash and the museum’s temporary closure.

In court Tuesday, the mother of the girl also spoke, asking the judge to order incarceration for Cannon rather than only probation.

The girl’s mother said Cannon’s actions were “not a lapse in judgment or a one-time mistake,” but a “yearlong campaign of calculated abuse,” with Cannon “positioning himself as a trusted figure, all the while he was grooming my daughter behind my back.”

“He manipulated her into believing she was in a relationship,” the girl’s mother said.

Cannon also addressed the court. 

“I crossed a line that should have never been crossed,” Cannon said, saying he broke a law that exists to protect others.

“I genuinely believed in the relationship and thought it meant forever and always,” Cannon said. 

Cannon said he can “never undo” the harm he caused but is “committed to becoming a better person.”

“I also want to make it clear I hold no anger, resentment or blame for the victim or their family. They did nothing wrong. I will never hold ill will towards them,” Cannon said, adding that he wants to “continue therapy and stay accountable.”

Cannon and prosecutors negotiated a plea deal, and Vogt said she would sentence Cannon based on that agreement.

Vogt said she had met with Cannon during previous settlement talks.

“I can say that the remorse you have heard in his words, I have heard before, and it has been consistent, and he has no criminal history whatsoever,” Vogt said.

In a phone interview, Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa said prosecutors, in negotiating the plea deal, sought a longer probation period and also a stipulation that would lead to a longer period of incarceration for Cannon should he violate his probation.

Normal sentencing guidelines would have categorized Cannon as a “7I” offender, based on the crime and his criminal history, with a jail incarceration totaling 30 days, Parosa said.

Instead, the negotiated deal called for Cannon to be sentenced as a “9I” offender, a designation which generally results in a stiffer sentence, including prison time.

But in this case, the negotiations for the “9I” designation included having Cannon avoid prison while allowing for the lengthier probation period, Parosa said, adding that Cannon is now “subject to a lengthier period of incarceration if he violates his probation.”

Vogt said Cannon must also register as a sex offender.

In an interview after the sentencing hearing, the girl’s mother expressed disappointment.

“I feel like somebody that abuses your kid for an entire year should face at least some time behind bars, not zero,” she said.

About the museum, she said, “I hope it reopens.”

She said the new chair of the museum’s board — the previous chair was Cannon’s father, Gary — has been supportive of her family.

Having the museum remain closed “in the wake of Geoffrey” would be “kind of giving him another win,” she said.