A Fallon man guilty of possession of child pornography was sentenced up to 10 years in prison during a late December District Court appearance.
Roger Wallace Stewart II, 36, pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced on one count for violating his sex offender lifetime supervision and one count of possession of visual pornography of a person under 16.
The violation carries a sentence of 19 to 48 months in prison, while the possession charge is for 28 to 72 months, although the sentences will run consecutively.
Stewart, who is originally from Henderson, Nev., was previously convicted in District Court for attempt to commit lewdness with a minor. He was sentenced in that case to eight to 20 years but was paroled after 11.
Sentencing had been continued until Dec. 18 so public defender David Neidert and Stewart could review the pre-sentence investigative report and the psycho-sexual evaluation.
According to the court transcript, the evaluation all but quashed the chance of probation.
Churchill County Chief Deputy District Attorney Lane Mills said the findings of the evaluation state Stewart is a high risk to re-offend.
Stewart, meanwhile, violated the lifetime supervision clause when he chose to engage in social media (Facebook), according to Neidert, although he said it was not to lure child victims.
The pornography charge, Neidert added, did not depict any actual or simulated sexual acts. Instead, it created sexual arousal for Stewart, which previous rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the State of Nevada, constitutes child pornography.
Stewart told the court he regretted what he did and said a previous attempt to secure mental health treatment at Nevada Mental Health was denied because a lack of insurance and money.
Once he was arrested and booked into the Churchill County Jail, he was awarded Medicaid.
Stewart said during his previous prison sentence, he worked with a psychiatrist and “was not completely able to address my problem and get it fixed.”
Stewart said his “fetish” was too strong to overcome, while Mills said the images viewed by Stewart consisted of “children in sexually suggestive poses with diapers.”
In addition, Mills countered Stewart’s claims of a victimless crime. Mills said because of individuals such as Stewart, their behavior creates a demand online to obtain child victims.
“That child out there is somewhere out there, and every time that somebody like this defendant looks at them they’re victimized over and over and over again,” Mills explained.
In other court news —
Debra Clendenning pleaded guilty Tuesday in District Court to two counts of embezzlement of a value of $3,500 or more.
She struck a plea deal with prosecutors after she was originally charged with 11 felony embezzlement counts stemming from years of theft from the Fallon Auto Mall.
In court, she admitted to embezzle $37,858.87 on Nov. 1, 2012, and $41,826.67 on May 1, 2013.
Each count carries a sentence of one to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She may also be responsible to pay restitution.
Scotti Jenkins pleaded guilty Tuesday in District Court to one graffiti count after being arrested for vandalizing Grimes Point.
He entered the plea to one charge of placing graffiti or otherwise defacing a protected site, a felony.
In addition, Jenkins was also allowed to remain on Court Services after missing 17 court-ordered check-ins. Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Tom Stockard called Jenkins’ actions “disgraceful” and said the next violation may land him in jail until his sentencing hearing.
Jenkins will be sentenced March 24 and faces one to four years in prison, although he is eligible for probation, but must serve 10 days in jail, perform 100 hours of community service, have his license suspended for 6 months to two years and must pay a fine between $400 to $1,000.
Graffiti was discovered at Grimes Point in March 2014, although the act by numerous individuals was committed on or about Feb. 25, 2014, according to the criminal complaint.