DA says Jackie Onassis half-brother, James Auchincloss, to plead guilty to having child porn

DA: Auchincloss to plead guilty in child porn case

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Oregon prosecutors said Friday that James Auchincloss — who as a boy carried the wedding train of his half-sister Jackie up the aisle as she married John F. Kennedy — will plead guilty next week to child pornography charges.

Jackson County Deputy District Attorney David Hoppe said that Auchincloss, 63, will appear in court Wednesday in Medford, where he will plead guilty to two felony counts of encouraging child sex abuse, the charge generally brought against people possessing child pornography.

Auchincloss was indicted a year ago after his longtime personal assistant, Edward McManus, told investigators he had seen Auchincloss and co-defendant Dennis Vickoren viewing pictures of naked boys in sexual poses at Auchincloss’ home.

Vickoren is also scheduled to plead guilty.

Though the charges are eligible for a sentence of probation, Auchincloss told The Associated Press that he expects to have to serve some time in jail or prison, and has been examined by a psychologist who reported to prosecutors that he had no pornography problem.

“Whatever they thought the problem was has been cleared up,” Auchincloss said. “I will be a guest of the state. They’ll see me and I’ll see them and we’ll come to an understanding.”

Auchincloss said he will spend any time behind bars writing.

“I am planning to write a lot while I am a guest of the county or the state or whatever they want to call me a guest of,” he said. “I am working on something. Whether it becomes a memoir or play, or a made-for-TV-movie. It has all the elements of everything you don’t want to be and have.”

Defense attorney Carl Caplan said he had no comment on the announcement from District Attorney Mark Huddleston.

“We’ll be there on Wednesday,” he said.

Vickoren did not immediately return a telephone call.

Hoppe said the counts against Auchincloss allege he possessed images on a computer disc and slides that he got from Vickoren, knowing that the children in the images had been victims of child abuse. The counts are eligible for a sentence of probation, with conditions such as successfully completing sex-offender treatment and registering as a sex offender.

An heir to a wealthy family that made a fortune in oil and financing, Auchincloss is the half-brother of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He briefly took the national stage at the age of 6 when he carried her wedding train as she married Kennedy in 1953.

But friends of Auchincloss said Jackie later treated him like a pariah, and various reasons have been given, including the fact that Auchincloss served as one of the better sources for the racy biography of Jackie titled “Jackie, Oh,” by author Kitty Kelley.

Auchincloss moved from Washington, D.C., to the small Southern Oregon college town of Ashland, best known as home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, in the mid-1990s.

In October 2008, police searched his small hillside bungalow and found a large number of graphic images of young boys, according to court documents.

Auchincloss was indicted last September on 25 counts and Vickoren on 30.