A Prince George’s County District Court Judge on Monday, March 6, ordered gay former College Park, Md., Mayor Patrick Wojahn held in jail without bond following his arrest last week on 56 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.

“His husband and mother were both in the courtroom and were crying and hugging after the decision was made,” Channel 9 reporter Evan Koslof reported in an online post.

The denial of bond means Wojahn, 47, must remain in custody until at least March 31, when he is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing related to the charges against him, a clerk of the court told the Washington Blade.

In a development that shocked College Park officials and LGBTQ activists who knew and worked with Wojahn on LGBTQ rights issues for many years, Wojahn resigned as mayor on March 2, hours before his arrest and two days after Prince George’s County Police Department investigators executed a search warrant at his College Park house.

In a statement released on the day of his arrest, police said they confiscated during the search multiple cell phones, a storage device, a tablet and a computer, which contained evidence that Wojahn allegedly had downloaded at least 56 videos or still images of child pornography. The statement said police charged him with 40 counts of possession of “child exploitative material” and 16 counts of distribution of “child exploitative material.”

The statement said the investigation into the allegations remains open and active. Later on the day of his March 2 arrest, Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said at a press conference that authorities anticipate filing additional charges, but he declined to say what those charges might be.

In his letter of resignation, which College Park officials publicly released, Wojahn said he fully cooperated with police at the time they searched his home and he planned to cooperate further.

“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 stated in his resignation letter. “I am stepping away to deal with my own mental health,” he wrote. “I ask that you continue to keep me and my family in your prayers.” 

In one of two detailed charging documents filed in court, Prince George’s County Police Det. J. Spicer, the lead investigator in the case, states that at the time police executed their search of the Wojahn residence police read to him his Miranda Rights to remain silent, which Wojahn waived and provided police with a statement.

In his statement, according to Spicer, he confirmed what investigators found in their earlier search of online records that Wojahn allegedly downloaded files containing child porn videos and child porn mages on the app known as KiK under the disguised username of “skippy_md.”

“He also indicated that when viewing these files, he ‘may have passed it on,’ indicating he has distributed files depicting child pornography to other persons,” Det. Spicer states in the charging document.

In the same charging document, Spicer provides a one or two sentence description of what each of the 56 video or still image files that Wojahn allegedly downloaded, possessed, or distributed. Most of the detective’s descriptions say the video or image show a “prepubescent male” engaging in sex with another “prepubescent male” or with an adult male. Other descriptions say the prepubescent male was engaging in masturbation.

In a separate statement of charges prepared by Spicer filed in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County, which is in Upper Marlboro, Wojahn is charged with 16 individual felony counts of knowingly possessing with the intent to distribute an image or a video that “depicts a minor engaged as a subject of sexual conduct.”

Written next to each of the 16 charges, which bear a coded number for the specific video or image Wojahn allegedly distributed, is the potential penalty of 10 years in jail and/or a $25,000 fine.

The same document charges him with 40 individual misdemeanor counts of possession of videos or images “showing an individual under 16 years of age engaged in sexual conduct.” The document shows that each of those charges carries a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $2,500 fine.

If convicted on all 16 counts of possession with intent to distribute, Wojahn could theoretically be sentenced to 160 years in jail and/or a fine of $400,000. However, legal observers have said prosecutors in cases like this often extend a plea bargain offer with a reduced number of charges in exchange for a guilty plea.

Wojahn’s attorney, David H. Moyse, has said it was too soon for him to comment on the case other than to reiterate that Wojahn “has been cooperating fully with law enforcement throughout this process and will continue to do so.”