Patrick Wojahn, the former Democratic mayor of College Park, Maryland, home of the University of Maryland, resigned in disgrace in March amid allegations of child pornography possession and distribution.
Wojahn will likely now face several decades in prison after he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 140 child pornography-related criminal charges, according to the Daily Wire.
In a deal reached with the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, it was stipulated that Wojahn would serve 30 years in prison in exchange for his plea of guilty to "60 counts of distribution of child pornography, 40 counts of possession of child pornography, and 40 counts of possession of child pornography with the intent to distribute."
According to a press alert from the State's Attorney's Office, the arrangement actually called for Wojahn to be sentenced to 150 years in prison with all but 30 years of that sentence suspended. He will learn his fare at a sentencing hearing scheduled for November 30.
"This is a horrific case," State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement. "I am truly pleased that Mr. Wojahn has pled guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions and these horrendous crimes."
"As a former elected official, the College Park community put its faith and support in him to serve each resident and their best interests," she continued. "Instead, he let them down in a most disgraceful way."
"Our children are both precious and vulnerable, deserving of the utmost protection. The tragedy of them being preyed upon in cases like this cannot be understated," the prosecutor added. "I want families in Prince George’s County to rest assured, that we will continue to exhaust every possible effort to ensure their safety and well-being."
In early March, The Washington Post reported that ex-Mayor Wojahn, 47, had been arrested and initially charged with 56 criminal counts related to child pornography just one day after he had resigned from his elected position.
Wojahn, who served seven years as mayor following eight years as a member of College Park's city council, said in his resignation letter, "I have cooperated fully, and will continue to cooperate, with law enforcement. While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction."
He went on to assert that it had been his "profound honor and privilege" to serve the city since 2007 and that he was "stepping away to deal with my own mental health."
The Post further reported at that time that authorities in Maryland and Prince George's County were first alerted in mid-February by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about suspicious anonymous social media activity in the county that involved the uploading and sharing of explicit videos that depicted adult men and young boys engaged in sexual activity.
Investigators swiftly tracked that activity to Wojahn and executed a search warrant on his home in late February, during which Wojahn admitted to his possession and distribution of child pornography and during which police seized "several cellphones, a storage device, a tablet, and a computer," further investigation of which uncovered dozens more images and videos of young boys engaged in sexual acts with adult men.
The article went on to share several comments of shock and condemnation from the disgraced ex-mayor's former colleagues and friends, but strangely enough, The Post's reporters also seemed to faintly praise and lament the trouble that had befallen the proudly openly gay Democratic politician who had been a champion of various social issues favored by the ideological left.
However, no amount of devotion to climate change and LGBTQ+ issues and the social justice agenda can overcome the visceral disgust that the vast majority of people feel, regardless of their background or partisan alignment, with regard to the topic of the sexual exploitation of innocent young children by predatory adults.
