Will Oregon Set A Monster Free
To truly understand what is at stake, we must first remember the beautiful soul whose life was stolen. Sahara Dwight was a vibrant, radiant five year old girl who brought pure joy to everyone around her. She was a sweet, affectionate child who loved playing outdoors, possessed a bright and curious spirit, and had a smile that could effortlessly light up an entire room. She was her family’s whole world, an innocent little girl with her entire future ahead of her, whose memory must be fiercely protected against a system that seems too eager to forget.
The horrific reality of what happened to 5 year old Sahara Dwight on July 9, 2010, remains an agonizing trauma for her family and a chilling reminder of the catastrophic failures that occur when the justice system retroactively alters sentencing laws. On that night, Dustin Michael Wallace, then a 16-year-old visiting his father, entered Sahara's bedroom, brutally sexually assaulted her, and suffocated her to death when she woke up and attempted to resist. Following an exhaustive legal process, Wallace was convicted on nine separate criminal counts, including aggravated murder and first degree rape. Recognizing the extraordinary threat Wallace posed to society, Douglas County Circuit Court Judge Randy Garrison handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, explicitly declaring that justice dictated Wallace must never be freed. He was sent to the Snake River Correctional Institution to serve out a permanent sentence. However, the legal landscape shifted dramatically in 2019 when former Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 1008 into law. Designed to reform juvenile justice, SB 1008 introduced mandatory sentence reviews and created automatic avenues for early release hearings for individuals who committed crimes as minors, effectively stripping away the life without parole guarantees given to grieving families. Because of this retroactive legislative shift, Wallace, who has since been transferred to the Oregon State Penitentiary, has become eligible for an official release hearing. Sahara’s father has stepped forward to warn the public about the severe limitations of this upcoming proceeding, emphasizing that this is explicitly a release hearing, not a traditional parole hearing. Under the restrictive framework of SB 1008, the District Attorney's office is legally prohibited from re-examining the original case, presenting the physical evidence of the murder, or recalling past witnesses to remind the board of the savagery of the crime. The scope of the evaluation is strictly limited to Wallace's institutional compliance, program completions, and behavioral records while incarcerated. Tragically, the Department of Corrections and institutional staff psychologists have already classified Wallace as a "low level risk," creating a powerful bureaucratic momentum that strongly favors his release. The victim's family has been entirely sidelined by the process, their legal involvement is restricted solely to delivering a victim impact statement, leaving them powerless to fight the release on the merits of the case itself. This is why we are urgently asking the public for their help. Because the administrative rules of SB 1008 tilt the scales in favor of an inmate's release based on sanitized prison behavior records, robust outside community intervention and intense public scrutiny are the only mechanisms left to keep this predator behind bars. We must collectively voice an unyielding demand to the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision that public safety, the permanent containment of a high-risk offender, and the memory of Sahara Dwight remain the state's absolute priorities. We urge all viewers and readers to act today by writing to the state oversight boards, demanding that Dustin Wallace serves the maximum duration of his natural life behind bars, and ensuring that a violent child rapist and murderer is never allowed back into free society.
PLEASE SEND YOUR WMAILS BY MAY 22ND 2026
DA's email
https://Lisa.thompson@douglas countyor.gov/
dlparoleboardvictimnotify@paroleboard.oregon.gov
503-945-0907
CASE INFO
Hearing for Wallace, Dustin M
June 3rd 2026
Hearing at Oregon State Penitentiary
Title
Hearing for Wallace, Dustin M
Location
Hearing at Oregon State Penitentiary
Start Time
6/3/2026 12:00 AM
End Time
6/3/2026 11:59 PM
Description
SID:18549706
Name: Wallace, Dustin M
Date Of Birth:3/27/1994
County(s) of Conviction: Douglas
Hearing on:6/3/2026
Type:JHPS