Maryland
‘Horrendous crimes:’ Former College Park mayor pleads guilty to 140 counts of child porn
Deal with prosecutors calls for 30-year jail sentence
Patrick Wojahn, the gay former mayor of College Park, Md., pleaded guilty in Prince George’s County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Aug. 2, to 140 counts of child pornography related charges as part of a plea agreement offered by prosecutors.
The agreement calls for Wojahn, 47, to be sentenced to 150 years in prison, with 120 years to be suspended, requiring that he serve 30 years.
Prince George’s County Assistant State’s Attorney Jessica Garth, the lead prosecutor in the case, announced the terms of the plea agreement during the Circuit Court hearing, which was listed as a plea hearing.
Garth told news reporters after the hearing that under Maryland’s sentencing rules Wojahan will be eligible to apply for release on parole after serving 25 percent of the 30-year sentence, which could result in his release after seven and a half years.
She said that under the plea agreement Wojahn will receive a mental health evaluation and treatment while in jail and upon being released; he must register as a Tier Two sex offender upon his release; and he will be prohibited upon release from holding a job or a volunteer position involving children. Garth said the plea agreement calls for Wojahn’s probation to last for five years.
As part of the plea agreement, Wojahn pleaded guilty to each of the 140 counts against him handed down in the second of two grand jury indictments. The 140 counts include 60 counts of distribution of child pornography, 40 counts of possession of child pornography, and 40 counts of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute it.
The first indictment against Wojahn came just under four weeks after Prince George’s County police announced on March 2 of this year that they had arrested him on 56 counts of possession and distribution of “child exploitive material.”
Shortly before his arrest and just after police raided his College Park house and confiscated multiple cell phones, a storage device, and a tablet and computer, Wojahn released a statement announcing he had resigned from his position as College Park mayor, for which he had served since 2015.
In his statement Wojahn also said he was cooperating with authorities in their investigation into the charges against him.
“I have cooperated fully, and will continue to cooperate fully,” he wrote. “I am stepping away to deal with my own mental health,” he said. “I ask that you continue to keep me and my family in your prayers.”
The initial police charging documents said Wojahn allegedly had uploaded and/or shared at least 56 videos or still images on the social media app Kik depicting explicit sexual acts between adult men and prepubescent boys, depicting prepubescent boys engaging in sex with each other, or engaging in masturbation.
The police charging documents did not include any evidence or allegations that Wojahn had any direct contact with the juveniles depicted in the pornographic videos or still images he possessed or distributed. And the charging documents also did not include allegations that he was distributing the video or still images of child porn by selling them for profit, only that he was allegedly sharing them with others through the Kik app.
The drama surrounding the Aug. 2 court hearing in which Wojahn pleaded guilty was heightened by an announcement by a court clerk that the hearing, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., would be delayed by at least 45 minutes or more because of a mix-up by jail officials who were supposed to transport Wojahn from the jail where he has been held since his arrest on March 2 to the courthouse, located in Upper Marlboro.
It wasn’t until 3:25 p.m. when a uniformed guard escorted Wojahn into the courtroom while the former mayor was handcuffed and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.
During the Aug. 2 plea hearing, Judge Karen Mason, who is currently presiding over the case, asked Wojahn to rise from the defense table where he was seated beside his attorney, David Moyse, to answer a series of questions that the judge said must be answered to confirm that he has willingly and knowingly chosen to waive his right to a trial and to plead guilty to all charges.
As part of her questioning, Mason read each of the 140 indictment counts, including their allegations of possession or distribution of child pornography, asking Wojahn if he understands the impact of his guilty plea.
“Yes, your honor,” Wojahn replied repeatedly.
Assistant State’s Attorney Garth told reporters after the hearing that the 30-year sentence called for in the plea agreement is one of the most severe sentences handed down in a Prince George’s County court for a case like the one involving Wojahn.
Judge Mason scheduled a formal sentencing hearing in the Wojahn case for Nov. 20, 2023. Garth said the judge has indicated that she will accept the terms of the plea agreement, including the 30-year sentence with eligibility for parole at 7 and a half years.
Defense attorney Moyse said after the hearing that he prefers not to comment on the plea agreement or the status of the case at this time.
“This is a horrific case,” P.G. County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement released after the court hearing. “I am truly pleased that Mr. Wojahn has pled guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions and these horrendous crimes,” Braveboy said.
Maryland
Vogel finishes second in primary race for Trone’s congressional seat
Gay Maryland lawmaker lost to April McClain Delaney
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Gay Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Tuesday finished second in the Democratic primary for Congressman David Trone’s seat.
Vogel lost to April McClain Delaney by a 39.1-26.7 percent margin with 53 percent of the votes counted.
The Montgomery County Democrat spoke to supporters at the South House Garden in Gaithersburg after he conceded to Delaney.
“I wished her well and pledged that I will do everything in my power and nature that we hold this seat in November, elect a Democratic senator in November and re-elect President Joe Biden,” said Vogel.
Vogel was born in Uruguay. He would have been the first Latino, the first gay man and first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he would have won in November.
Delaney will face Republican Neil Parrott, an anti-LGBTQ former member of the Maryland House of Delegates, in November.
Maryland
Alsobrooks defeats Trone in Md. Senate primary
Prince George’s County executive to face Larry Hogan in November
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks on Tuesday defeated Congressman David Trone in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
Alsobrooks defeated Trone by 54-41.9 percent margin with 66 percent of the votes counted. She will face Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan in November.
“On Nov. 5, 2024, we are going to defeat Larry Hogan, keep Maryland blue, and keep our Senate under Democratic control,” said Alsobrooks on her X account after she defeated Trone.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), U.S. Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser are among those who congratulated Alsobrooks.
“Tonight we celebrate, and tomorrow we keep fighting to get her elected as Maryland’s next U.S. senator in November,” said Robinson on her X account.
Maryland
Trone, Alsobrooks battle it out in Md.
Winner of May 14 Democratic primary will face Hogan in November
The two Democrats who are running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told the Washington Blade they would champion LGBTQ rights in the U.S. Senate.
Congressman David Trone is a member of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights law.
Trone voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act and co-sponsored a U.S. House of Representatives resolution in support of transgender rights. Trone helped secure $530,000 in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to develop violence prevention programs for LGBTQ youth in Montgomery County. He has also participated in Pride marches and other LGBTQ-specific events in his district that stretches from northern Montgomery County to Garrett County in western Maryland.
Trone during a telephone interview with the Blade on May 1 noted Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified marriage equality in federal law.
“It’s about having to be able to personally connect with folks on the other side of the aisle,” said Trone.
“What I found successful to me is building a personal relationship and telling stories about my life,” he added.
Trone during the interview disclosed his niece is trans, and attended Furman University in South Carolina. He said he donated $10 million to the school that he attended as an undergrad to “build out their mental health capacity, which I felt was a way that she could have the best mental health care possible when she worked her way through (her) transition.”
Trone said his company, Total Wine & More, began to offer benefits to employees’ same-sex partners nearly 30 years ago. He told the Blade he implemented the policy after a female employee said her partner was unable to get health insurance.
“I didn’t really think much about it, because I didn’t realize that her partner was another woman,” recalled Trone. “She explained to me that she was another woman and couldn’t get married, and I said, well, we’ll figure that out, so I went down to human resources and found that you can change your policy.”
Maryland voters in 2012 approved the state’s same-sex marriage law.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was the county’s state’s attorney when voters upheld the marriage equality law.
She supported the law and attended a pro-Question 6 fundraiser at state Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery County)’s home ahead of the referendum. The Montgomery County Democrat’s now wife worked with Alsobrooks when she was state’s attorney, and she toasted them at their 2013 wedding.
Alsobrooks during an April 29 interview at the Blade’s office noted Prince George’s County offers PrEP to LGBTQ people and other communities “that need the opportunity to protect themselves.”
She, like Trone, supports the Equality Act, noting it “does provide the opportunity to not experience discrimination in a number of forums.” Alsobrooks also discussed the need to “protect the courts.”
“The one thing that former President Trump did was to stack the courts with judges who make decisions that have taken away the rights of many people, including the LGBTQ community,” she told the Blade.
Alsobrooks also said she would like to be on the Senate Judiciary Committee to “make sure that we are not appointing these conservative, activist judges who want to make decisions and choices that do not belong to them … and are determined, I think, to remove freedom from so many.”
Prince George’s County Councilwoman Krystal Oriadha, a bisexual woman who supports Trone, last June criticized the decision not to hold a ceremony for the raising of the Pride flag over the county administrative building in Upper Marlboro.
Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr., of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, the Upper Marlboro church that Alsobrooks attends, in 2012 urged his congregants to vote against Maryland’s marriage equality law. Shirley Caesar, a well-known gospel singer, during a 2017 appearance at the church defended Kim Burrell, another gospel singer who referred to the “perverted homosexual lifestyle” in an online sermon that has been removed from YouTube and social media.
Alsobrooks’s campaign in an earlier statement to the Blade said she “does not agree with those sentiments.”
Primary winner to likely face Hogan
Early voting in Maryland began on May 2.
Campaign finance reports indicate Trone has loaned his campaign more than $54 million. Alsobrooks has raised more than $7 million.
A poll that Goucher College conducted with the Baltimore Banner between March 19-24 found 42 percent of likely Democratic voters will vote for Trone, compared to 33 percent who said they will cast their ballot for Alsobrooks. Nearly a quarter of poll respondents said they were undecided.
An Emerson College Polling/The Hill/DC News Now poll released on Thursday notes Alsobrooks is now ahead of Trone by a 42-41 percent margin with a 2.9 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted between Monday and Wednesday.
The winner of the May 14 primary will most likely face off against Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, who entered the race in February.
Alsobrooks would become the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate if she were to win in November. She told the Blade that Maryland “is going to be one of the states” that will determine whether Democrats will retain control of the chamber.
“That issue of choice was also squarely featured because of his (Hogan’s) well-known position as a person who is not pro-choice,” she said, referring to abortion that has emerged as a top campaign issue after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down Roe v. Wade. “It really energized a lot of people who are now really leaning in and are committed to making sure that we keep Maryland blue, and by extension that we elect people who will protect a woman’s right to choose, protect reproductive freedom.”
Trone told the Blade that he is the candidate who can defeat Hogan in November.
“I have a track record of progress and passing bills in the House for three sessions,” said Trone. “I’ll be able to beat Larry Hogan.”
Candidates attacked over insensitive comments, campaign spending
Trone and Alsobrooks in recent weeks have intensified their attacks against each other.
Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin and other elected officials who have endorsed Alsobrooks over the past weekend publicly criticized Trone after he told NBC Washington last week that people who have backed her are “low level.”
Trone in March apologized after he used a racial slur during a House Budget Committee hearing.
Alsobrooks’s campaign did not publicly respond to the comment. Alsobrooks herself pointed out to the Blade that Trone during a debate said he gave money to U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), describing them as “great diversity candidates.” (Trone later said he meant to say “diverse candidates.”)
“We are not diversity candidates,” said Alsobrooks. “These are qualified congresswomen.”
Alsobrooks also noted Trone has given money to anti-LGBTQ Republicans.
Campaign finance records indicate Trone and/or his wife have previously supported anti-LGBTQ Republicans. These include a $38,000 donation to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s election campaign in 2014, two $4,000 contributions to former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory in 2008 and 2012 and $2,500 to U.S. Sen. Tom Tillis (R-N.C.).
Total Wine & More between 2007-2022 contributed $272,971 to Republican officials, candidates and state parties. Trone in 2015 stepped down as the company’s CEO.
Trone in response to Alsobrooks’s criticism noted his company has more than 1,000 employees in Texas. Trone also defended his company and the way that he has “always put my people first.”
“If you put your people first, you’re going to take care of your people with full time wages, wages with benefits, insurance, health care, all those things,” he said. “Republicans attack us in all these states, then they have the audacity to ask for money in those states, and that’s where the company is put between a rock and a hard place.”
“That’s why we want to get this money out of politics,” added Trone. “Get these people out (of) there asking for money.”
Trone said he has given more than $20 million to Democrats.
“The fact that the company works to protect the jobs of people in Tennessee, and in South Carolina, (works) on issues that are not related to abortion, issues that are not at all related to LGBTQ+ issues that are related to the business; I keep them open,” he told the Blade. “They’d like to conflate the world to their advantage.”
Trone noted he was not “born rich” and attended public school, while Alsobrooks “went to private school.” Trone also described Alsobrooks to the Blade as a “career politician.”
Governor Wes Moore; Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller; U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen; former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Reps. John Sarbanes, Glenn Ivey, Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume and Jamie Raskin; state Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City); former state Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City); Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott; and Howard County Registrar of Wills Byron Macfarlane are among the elected officials who have endorsed Alsobrooks.
“She was for marriage equality before it was cool to be for marriage equality,” Kaiser told the Blade late last year.
Attorney General Anthony Brown, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and gay state Dels. Ashanti Martinez (D-Montgomery County) and Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) are among those who have endorsed Trone.
“Congressman David Trone has been an unwavering supporter of LGBTQ+ rights since his first year in office,” Fair told the Blade on Tuesday in a statement. “He has been a vocal and visible leader, showing up in queer spaces and being an active listener and facilitator.”
Gay state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County), who is running for Trone’s seat in Congress, has also endorsed him.
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