MONROE - A former Monroe resident stood mute Thursday on 29 charges of possession of child pornography as his case proceeds to trial next year.
Timothy Gordon Hoffman, 43, currently of Cherry Valley, Illinois, appeared in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on 29 Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography.
The hearing came within a week of a motion that dismissed two previous counts of possession of child porn. The previous charges stemmed from the same incident as the 29 new charges but were dismissed after Hoffman's attorney, Robert Duxstad, called into question the legitimacy of the criminal complaint.
In Thursday's hearing, assistant Green County District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl again called Monroe Police detective Steven Gately to testify regarding Hoffman's arrest.
Gately said Hoffman was arrested after a report from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force that flagged an image uploaded to the social media site ChatStep from a Monroe IP address that would eventually be traced to Hoffman's apartment in the 2500 block of 13th Street.
Gately detailed the items taken from Hoffman's apartment - seven flash drives - and those later taken from Hoffman's vehicle - a laptop and two additional flash drives - on Sept. 27.
The items were taken to an analyst for the state's Department of Criminal Investigations, who said there were approximately 10,000 images and 1,500 videos contained on the items. The vast majority of the images contained child pornography, Gately said.
The pornographic images primarily depicted prepubescent boys engaged in sexual acts with other prepubescent boys, prepubescent girls, underage male teenagers, adult men and adult women. Gately added that a college application in Hoffman's name was also found, as were several documents containing what Gately described as "teen erotic stories."
As in previous hearings, Duxstad questioned the methodology by which the DCI analyst transferred the images from the flash drives and laptop into police evidence, as well as the process by which Gately chose the 29 particular images that form the basis for Hoffman's 29 charges.
However, Duxstad raised no complaint with Gately's testimony or the criminal complaint and allowed the case to proceed. Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale entered a "not guilty" plea on Hoffman's behalf after the latter stood mute.
Hoffman will next appear in court on Jan. 3 for a pre-trial conference. The maximum possible total sentence for all of his charges is 435 years in prison.
Timothy Gordon Hoffman, 43, currently of Cherry Valley, Illinois, appeared in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing on 29 Class D felony counts of possession of child pornography.
The hearing came within a week of a motion that dismissed two previous counts of possession of child porn. The previous charges stemmed from the same incident as the 29 new charges but were dismissed after Hoffman's attorney, Robert Duxstad, called into question the legitimacy of the criminal complaint.
In Thursday's hearing, assistant Green County District Attorney Jeffrey Kohl again called Monroe Police detective Steven Gately to testify regarding Hoffman's arrest.
Gately said Hoffman was arrested after a report from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force that flagged an image uploaded to the social media site ChatStep from a Monroe IP address that would eventually be traced to Hoffman's apartment in the 2500 block of 13th Street.
Gately detailed the items taken from Hoffman's apartment - seven flash drives - and those later taken from Hoffman's vehicle - a laptop and two additional flash drives - on Sept. 27.
The items were taken to an analyst for the state's Department of Criminal Investigations, who said there were approximately 10,000 images and 1,500 videos contained on the items. The vast majority of the images contained child pornography, Gately said.
The pornographic images primarily depicted prepubescent boys engaged in sexual acts with other prepubescent boys, prepubescent girls, underage male teenagers, adult men and adult women. Gately added that a college application in Hoffman's name was also found, as were several documents containing what Gately described as "teen erotic stories."
As in previous hearings, Duxstad questioned the methodology by which the DCI analyst transferred the images from the flash drives and laptop into police evidence, as well as the process by which Gately chose the 29 particular images that form the basis for Hoffman's 29 charges.
However, Duxstad raised no complaint with Gately's testimony or the criminal complaint and allowed the case to proceed. Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale entered a "not guilty" plea on Hoffman's behalf after the latter stood mute.
Hoffman will next appear in court on Jan. 3 for a pre-trial conference. The maximum possible total sentence for all of his charges is 435 years in prison.