CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When a Charleston police officer was arrested on a charge of soliciting sex with a minor on Friday, Kanawha County Magistrate Tim Halloran wouldn't let the public into the courtroom, according to a TV reporter who was there.

If that's true, it's a clear violation of state law, said Steve Canterbury, administrative director of the West Virginia Supreme Court.

The West Virginia Constitution guarantees that courts are open to the public. When a hearing is closed, the court must specifically state why, according to Article 3, Section 17 of the constitution.

There are exceptions for some hearings, such as matters in family court, but none of those apply here, Canterbury said.

"They can keep out any recording, audio or video and prevent photos from being taken," he said. "However, in a public hearing, reporters as members of the public can't be restricted. Each reporter can come in and take notes."

Sean Phillip Patrick, 30, allegedly propositioned someone over the Internet he understood to be a girl between the ages of 15 and 17 from Loudoun County, Va., according to the warrant of arrest filed by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Kraig Troxell, public information officer for the Loudoun sheriff's department, wouldn't say whether the person Patrick thought was a teenage girl was actually a sheriff's deputy, an FBI agent or a member of the public.

The FBI joined the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit to arrest Patrick Friday evening at the Charleston Police Department.

Patrick is charged in Virginia with using a communications system for the purpose of soliciting a minor between the ages of 15 and 17 with lascivious intent, which is a Class 5 felony.

Locked out

Mike Waterhouse, news operations manager at WSAZ-TV, says he was the only person attempting to get into the courtroom during Patrick's hearing on Friday. Waterhouse filed a complaint to the state Judicial Investigation Commission on Monday.

"I don't believe any other member of the public would be allowed back there as well," he said. "We have these open hearings so the public can witness what happens and clearly that wasn't the case Friday night."

Waterhouse said he went to the magistrate courtroom in the Kanawha County Courthouse annex Friday without a camera because he knew Halloran has a long history of barring recordings of proceedings in his courtroom.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When a Charleston police officer was arrested on a charge of soliciting sex with a minor on Friday, Kanawha County Magistrate Tim Halloran wouldn't let the public into the courtroom, according to a TV reporter who was there.

If that's true, it's a clear violation of state law, said Steve Canterbury, administrative director of the West Virginia Supreme Court.

The West Virginia Constitution guarantees that courts are open to the public. When a hearing is closed, the court must specifically state why, according to Article 3, Section 17 of the constitution.

There are exceptions for some hearings, such as matters in family court, but none of those apply here, Canterbury said.

"They can keep out any recording, audio or video and prevent photos from being taken," he said. "However, in a public hearing, reporters as members of the public can't be restricted. Each reporter can come in and take notes."

Sean Phillip Patrick, 30, allegedly propositioned someone over the Internet he understood to be a girl between the ages of 15 and 17 from Loudoun County, Va., according to the warrant of arrest filed by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Kraig Troxell, public information officer for the Loudoun sheriff's department, wouldn't say whether the person Patrick thought was a teenage girl was actually a sheriff's deputy, an FBI agent or a member of the public.

The FBI joined the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit to arrest Patrick Friday evening at the Charleston Police Department.

Patrick is charged in Virginia with using a communications system for the purpose of soliciting a minor between the ages of 15 and 17 with lascivious intent, which is a Class 5 felony.

Locked out

Mike Waterhouse, news operations manager at WSAZ-TV, says he was the only person attempting to get into the courtroom during Patrick's hearing on Friday. Waterhouse filed a complaint to the state Judicial Investigation Commission on Monday.

"I don't believe any other member of the public would be allowed back there as well," he said. "We have these open hearings so the public can witness what happens and clearly that wasn't the case Friday night."

Waterhouse said he went to the magistrate courtroom in the Kanawha County Courthouse annex Friday without a camera because he knew Halloran has a long history of barring recordings of proceedings in his courtroom.

He said a security guard told him he couldn't go into the courtroom. The guard then radioed the bailiff.

"The bailiff came into the lobby because he told me the door to the courtroom was locked," Waterhouse said. The bailiff said Waterhouse wasn't allowed inside.

Waterhouse then went back to his news station and got a camera and took footage from outside the annex. He put the camera back in his car, then went back in the annex to talk to Halloran and get a copy of the arrest warrant.

Halloran still wouldn't allow Waterhouse in the courtroom, but talked to him over the phone and said he would have to get a copy of the warrant on Monday, Waterhouse said.

"He said to pick it up on Monday and he wasn't going to release it to me," Waterhouse said. "When I started explaining ... our right to have that information, he hung up on me."

Magistrates are allowed to hold the papers until they are filed in Circuit Court, Canterbury said. Other magistrates routinely release criminal complaints and paperwork on arraignments soon after the hearing is over.

When reached at Magistrate Court on Monday, Halloran declined to be interviewed, only saying, "If you're calling about Friday night, I run a courtroom, not a newsroom."

Canterbury said his office doesn't have the power to investigate the matter, and that any investigation would have to be done by the Judicial Investigation Commission.

The public has the right to participate in magistrate court proceedings, he said.

"And we will, as a court, protect that right and if any judge or magistrate is denying that, then that's a serious bit of malfeasance," Canterbury said.

Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com

or 304-348-5163.