Ex-cop pleads guilty in child porn case
Staff writer
Former Marion County deputy and Burns police chief Joel J. Womochil, 39, has pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child.
In a plea agreement filed Oct. 9, Womochil admitted having conspired with Indiana resident Denise Sandmann for Sandmann to produce a video of herself engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 3-year-old child.
Sandmann sent the videos to Womochil, who saved them on his computer on or about March 26, 2019.
He also admitted having conspired with Jessica Quave, Council Grove, to produce at least three videos of her engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a child younger than 6 years old.
Those videos were produced and sent to Womochil on or about April 13, 2021.
At that time, Womochil was a Marion County sheriff’s deputy.
In exchange for Womochil’s pleas on the two charges, other charges in the case were dismissed, and prosecutors will ask for a reduction in the severity level of the offenses.
Womochil agreed to forfeit all electronic equipment used during the crimes.
He also agreed to pay $166,350 restitution to the child in Quave’s videos and no less than $3,000 restitution to all children involved in other charges filed against him. The parents of the child in the first video did not seek restitution.
He will have to pay special assessments of $10,200.
When Womochil is sentenced in January, he could be ordered to pay additional special assessments of up to $100,000.
He faces 15 to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count. The court could order the sentences to run consecutively or concurrently.
His supervised release could range from five years to life.
The case started in Butler County, where Womochil was a jailer.
He originally was charged Aug. 16, 2023, in Butler County with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Those charges were amended in September 2023 to add 21 additional counts, including 10 counts of aggravated Internet trading in child pornography and 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
His Butler County charges were amended a second time Sept. 26, removing the aggravated Internet trading counts.
He was charged in federal court in October 2023 with knowingly receiving child pornography and possession of child pornography.
The Butler County case against him was dismissed April 19.
Womochil was a Marion County deputy from March 2020 until November 2022. He resigned Aug. 8, 2023, as police chief for Burns.