DARLINGTON - Timmy Reichling, a Darlington man accused of producing child pornography, withdrew a guilty plea for two counts of possessing child pornography Wednesday and had a trial date scheduled.
Reichling, 49, had pleaded guilty to two Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography in Lafayette County Circuit Court in July. At that time, three more charges of possessing child porn and three Class C felony charges of child sexual exploitation were dismissed.
However, when Reichling appeared in court Wednesday for what was to be a sentencing hearing, his attorney, Philip J. Brehm, made a motion to withdraw Reichling's guilty plea.
According to the motion, Reichling's plea agreement had been made with a joint recommendation between Brehm and Lafayette County District Attorney Kate Findley for a sentence of one year in prison and 10 years of extended supervision. However, as charges of possession of child pornography carry mandatory minimum sentences of three years in prison, the motion argued that the plea could not be effectuated, and it would be unconstitutional to adhere to it.
Findley had no objection to the motion, and Green County Judge James Beer granted it. As a result, all of Reichling's charges were reinstated.
Reichling is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence on charges of producing child pornography.
The inciting incident, from which stemmed both the federal and the Lafayette County charges, took place in 2008, when Reichling allegedly coerced teenage girls to send him nude photos and videos by posing as a teenage boy on Facebook.
According to police records, Reichling then threatened to release the images to the victims' families when they wanted to stop sending him images.
When investigators discovered Reichling's collection of child pornography in 2013, they reportedly found several million images stored on hard drives.
Reichling's case is now, once again, on schedule for a trial. The trial is currently scheduled to take place on Feb. 8, 2017.
The maximum possible sentence for Reichling's charges is 150 years in prison. His maximum sentence under the now-defunct plea agreement was 30 years in prison.
Reichling, 49, had pleaded guilty to two Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography in Lafayette County Circuit Court in July. At that time, three more charges of possessing child porn and three Class C felony charges of child sexual exploitation were dismissed.
However, when Reichling appeared in court Wednesday for what was to be a sentencing hearing, his attorney, Philip J. Brehm, made a motion to withdraw Reichling's guilty plea.
According to the motion, Reichling's plea agreement had been made with a joint recommendation between Brehm and Lafayette County District Attorney Kate Findley for a sentence of one year in prison and 10 years of extended supervision. However, as charges of possession of child pornography carry mandatory minimum sentences of three years in prison, the motion argued that the plea could not be effectuated, and it would be unconstitutional to adhere to it.
Findley had no objection to the motion, and Green County Judge James Beer granted it. As a result, all of Reichling's charges were reinstated.
Reichling is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence on charges of producing child pornography.
The inciting incident, from which stemmed both the federal and the Lafayette County charges, took place in 2008, when Reichling allegedly coerced teenage girls to send him nude photos and videos by posing as a teenage boy on Facebook.
According to police records, Reichling then threatened to release the images to the victims' families when they wanted to stop sending him images.
When investigators discovered Reichling's collection of child pornography in 2013, they reportedly found several million images stored on hard drives.
Reichling's case is now, once again, on schedule for a trial. The trial is currently scheduled to take place on Feb. 8, 2017.
The maximum possible sentence for Reichling's charges is 150 years in prison. His maximum sentence under the now-defunct plea agreement was 30 years in prison.