DARLINGTON - A Darlington man convicted two decades ago of sexually assaulting his pregnant girlfriend will have his preliminary hearing Sept. 17 on new charges of creating child porn via sexual exploitation.
Timmy J. Reichling, 46, made a brief appearance in Lafayette County Circuit Court Tuesday, Sept. 3. He was originally scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Tuesday, but it was postponed due to a last-minute switch in public defenders.
The new public defender, Frank Medina, told the judge he received the criminal complaint on the case just "two minutes" before the hearing and needed more time to review it.
Reichling is being held on a $1 million bail on three Class C felony counts of child sexual exploitation, three Class I felony counts being a registered sex offender photographing a minor without consent, and five Class D felony counts of possessing child pornography.
He allegedly posed as a teenager on Facebook and elsewhere online in recent years, using various fake names, and solicited at least one local girl for hundreds of naked photos and a sex video. Police suspect there are other victims not yet identified and are seeking tips from the public in an ongoing investigation of Reichling.
State agents report finding several million images of child porn in his possession.
If convicted, this would not be Reichling's first sexual offense.
In 1993, a Green County jury found him guilty on multiple felony sexual assault charges. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and remains a registered sex offender.
The charges stem from an encounter he had with a 17-year-old girl a few days after Christmas 1992.
According to court records:
Reichling, 25 years old at the time, had been dating the girl and was expecting a baby with her. She broke off the relationship in late 1992.
Upset by her decision, he took her on a ride in his 1986 Oldsmobile on back country roads west of Monroe near Browntown, South Wayne, Woodford and Argyle, and locked her inside the car while threatening her with a butcher knife.
During the ride, he hit her in the face, pulled her hair and forced sex on her several times, at one point stopping the car and making her get undressed and get out of the car to be assaulted.
After the final assault, he threatened to kill himself with the butcher knife but she talked him out of it, got hold of the knife and threw it out the car window.
About seven months later, she gave birth to their baby.
According to a sentencing memo filed with the case, Reichling later expressed remorse and told the memo writer he was ashamed of what he did.
"He knows that his problems lie within his own maturity, relationships and sexual behavior," the report states. In the investigator's evaluation, Reichling "presented himself as open, honest and sincere" during a lengthy interview.
The investigator noted that Reichling had a history of pursuing relationships with younger women. When Reichling was 23 and living in Monroe, police questioned him about these relationships, which reportedly included girls as young as 14.
Timmy J. Reichling, 46, made a brief appearance in Lafayette County Circuit Court Tuesday, Sept. 3. He was originally scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Tuesday, but it was postponed due to a last-minute switch in public defenders.
The new public defender, Frank Medina, told the judge he received the criminal complaint on the case just "two minutes" before the hearing and needed more time to review it.
Reichling is being held on a $1 million bail on three Class C felony counts of child sexual exploitation, three Class I felony counts being a registered sex offender photographing a minor without consent, and five Class D felony counts of possessing child pornography.
He allegedly posed as a teenager on Facebook and elsewhere online in recent years, using various fake names, and solicited at least one local girl for hundreds of naked photos and a sex video. Police suspect there are other victims not yet identified and are seeking tips from the public in an ongoing investigation of Reichling.
State agents report finding several million images of child porn in his possession.
If convicted, this would not be Reichling's first sexual offense.
In 1993, a Green County jury found him guilty on multiple felony sexual assault charges. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and remains a registered sex offender.
The charges stem from an encounter he had with a 17-year-old girl a few days after Christmas 1992.
According to court records:
Reichling, 25 years old at the time, had been dating the girl and was expecting a baby with her. She broke off the relationship in late 1992.
Upset by her decision, he took her on a ride in his 1986 Oldsmobile on back country roads west of Monroe near Browntown, South Wayne, Woodford and Argyle, and locked her inside the car while threatening her with a butcher knife.
During the ride, he hit her in the face, pulled her hair and forced sex on her several times, at one point stopping the car and making her get undressed and get out of the car to be assaulted.
After the final assault, he threatened to kill himself with the butcher knife but she talked him out of it, got hold of the knife and threw it out the car window.
About seven months later, she gave birth to their baby.
According to a sentencing memo filed with the case, Reichling later expressed remorse and told the memo writer he was ashamed of what he did.
"He knows that his problems lie within his own maturity, relationships and sexual behavior," the report states. In the investigator's evaluation, Reichling "presented himself as open, honest and sincere" during a lengthy interview.
The investigator noted that Reichling had a history of pursuing relationships with younger women. When Reichling was 23 and living in Monroe, police questioned him about these relationships, which reportedly included girls as young as 14.