Two Ocala court cases: Guilty verdict for child porn possession, prison for child abuse
At the Marion County Courthouse last week, one man accepted a plea deal to resolve his felony case while a jury returned a guilty verdict in another.
A jury found 36-year-old Sean Patrick Fenstemaker guilty of 22 counts of possession of child pornography/10 or more images.
Fenstemaker stared ahead when the clerk read the verdict aloud.
Circuit Judge Robert Hodges said sentencing will be decided at a later date. Jurors deliberated a little more than an hour.
Fenstemaker did not testify at his trial, which began Thursday morning and ended Friday.
Assistant State Attorneys Katrina Self and Victoria Cortez prosecuted the cases. Self, in her closing argument, said Fenstemaker claimed a man had sent him the child porn. But law enforcement officials found no evidence that the man sent the images to Fenstemaker.
She said he had the pictures on his phone for a time and made inconsistent statements to police.
Fenstemaker's lawyer, David Mengers of Ocala, alleged that the man accused of sending Fenstemaker the disturbing photographs had also raped his client. He said police waited 10 days before talking to the man. He said Fenstemaker had the images so he could report it to the police.
State v. Albert Leo Whitmore
A day before Fenstemaker's verdict was announced, Albert Leo Whitmore decided to change his plea from not guilty to no contest on a charge of aggravated child abuse.
Assistant Public Defender Michael Novak told the court that his client has agreed to serve a nine-year prison term. Whitmore has 736 days of credit while at the county jail.
Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon told Whitmore that he could have received up to 30 years behind bars if convicted.
Two years ago, Whitmore, now 35, was arrested and accused of harming a toddler. The child's mother took the child, identified only as a boy, to a hospital where it was discovered the victim had spiral femoral mid-shaft fracture.
Authorities investigated and later arrested Whitmore.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala, Florida judges resolve two pending felony cases
