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Portland banker Aubre Dickson was arraigned this morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court on sex abuse charges relating to a May 2012 incident.
Dickson, 43, appearing in court with his attorney, Stephen Houze, pleaded not guilty to unlawful sexual penetration in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree and two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree. He is free on bail after posting $75,500, the required 10 percent of the $755,000 bail.
In booking documents, Dickson, who in March left Key Bank, where he was a vice president of community lending, indicated he is receiving a severance of $11,000 a month through the end of June.
Dickson's co-defendant, Charles McGee, the co-founder and former CEO of the Black Parent Initiative, turned himself in today. McGee will face steeper bail than Dickson—$1,260,000—which means he'll have to come up with $126,000 to stay out of jail.
The difference in bail amounts is because McGee faces more charges than Dickson—all the charges Dickson faces, plus a count of sodomy in the first degree and and additional count of sexual abuse in the first degree and an additional count of sexual abuse in the second degree.
Related: A Portland Woman Comes Forward With Her Story of Being Attacked by Two Prominent Men.
That's not the only difference between the two men's cases: according to the indictments, McGee chose to appear in front of the grand jury to argue his case. That's unusual and potentially risky, criminal defense attorneys say, because he would have had to appear without an attorney present and would be subject to questioning by members of the grand jury.
Dickson did not appear in front of the grand jury.
Dickson's attorney, Houze, spoke to reporters on steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center after Dickson's arraignment. (Dickson can be seen exiting the building with Houze but he immediately left and did not speak to the media.) Here is footage from WW's news partner KATU: