Stuart man to serve 20 years for child pornography possession, a judge ordered Tuesday
MARTIN COUNTY — A Stuart man charged with possessing more than 100 images of child pornography will spend 20 years in prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Timothy Woltmann, 57, had faced up to 119 years in prison after he was arrested in October 2021.
Woltmann on Aug. 9 pleaded guilty to 100 counts of possession of child pornography, 10 images or more; and 23 counts of electronic transmission of child pornography images, court records show.
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The case against Woltmann began in 2021 with a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children agency notifying the Martin County Sheriff's Office about a few dozen sexually explicit images being uploaded to an internet provider address associated with Woltmann, according to an arrest affidavit.
When detectives on Oct. 13, 2021 went to Woltmann's home in the 900 block of Southeast Ocean Avenue, in Stuart to take him into custody, they seized two of his cell phones. One phone contained 100 images of child porn, detectives reported.
His initial bond of $1.7 million was later reduced to $664,000 but records show he remained in custody at the Martin County Jail.
Defense attorneys in August filed court papers seeking a downward departure in prison time from what sentencing guidelines recommended. Downward departure allows for greater flexibility in sentencing and acknowledges that each case is unique and that the guidelines do not adequately address all circumstances.
After hearing testimony from expert witnesses and Woltmann's family, Circuit Judge William Roby on Tuesday sided with his defense lawyer and ordered he serve a term of 20 years. Woltmann was also ordered to serve five years of sex offender probation following his release from prison.
"The court is exercising his discretion and granted a downward departure based on the totality of the evidence and circumstantial testimony," Roby said.
The defense, Roby ruled, provided substantial evidence that Woltmann was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
Defense attorney Stephanie McEnery in court called up a polygraph examiner and a forensic psychiatrist to testify on Woltmann's mental state and any potential risk he might pose reentering society.
Sheila Rapa, a clinical and forensic psychologist, conducted a psychosexual evaluation on Woltmann and testified for the defense. She specializes in treating sexual abuse victims and evaluating and assessing sexual abuse perpetrators, she said.
Rapa found Woltmann had a major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and alcohol-use disorder.
Woltmann had no history of physical sexual abuse of children, Rapa said, and he has no desire to commit those acts in the real world.
John Morrison, a former police officer and polygraph examiner, said he administered a polygraph test and questioned Woltmann Sept. 1.
Morrison said he asked Woltmann if he had ever committed or attempted physical sexual contact with anyone under the age of 18. Woltmann answered no and passed the polygraph test, Morrison said.
Woltmann's mother and brother also testified on his behalf. His brother, Daniel Woltmann, said he is a minister and would be able to provide a support system when he is released from prison.
Woltmann too, apologized to Roby and expressed remorse for his actions. Reading from a prepared statement, he said he would dedicate his time in prison to using his education and skills to help others.
Before Roby imposed a sentence, Assistant State Attorney Kristen Chase argued that despite Woltmann's struggles with mental health he still chose to download and transmit child pornography.
"The thought that he should be entitled to a downward departure because his way of managing that is to ... find sexual gratification and exploitation of children, this certainly ... it defies logic," Chase said.
She stressed that many of the videos Woltmann possessed showed people sexually violating prepubescent children as young as toddlers. He also transmitted the videos to other people, she said.
"So you traded the rape and humiliation and abuse of children like playing cards?" Chase said while questioning Woltmann.
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Mauricio La Plante is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow him on Twitter @mslaplantenews or email him at Mauricio.LaPlante@TCPalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Timothy Woltmann to serve 20 years prison for child porn possession
