Rochester Man Finalizes Plea Deal in Child Porn Case

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man today formalized what had been a tentative plea agreement by entering guilty pleas to several felony child pornography charges.

During a hearing this afternoon in Olmsted County Court, 58-year-old Kevin James Hammell admitted to three counts of possession of child pornography involving children under 14 years old. Two other felony charges were dismissed through the plea deal.

Hammell was charged in late March as a result of an investigation that was launched by Rochester Police based on a cyber tip regarding 20 images of suspected child sexual abuse material that had been uploaded to an Adobe account and traced to a home in Southwest Rochester. According to the criminal complaint, Hammell was driving away from the residence when he was stopped by a detective who informed him that his home was being searched.

The court document says Hammell eventually admitted downloading child pornography onto a USB drive, which was recovered by investigators during the search. It contained numerous video files of child pornography involving girls believed to be 8 to 10 years old. The charges also alleged that sexually explicit images of a 6 to 8-year-old child were uploaded to Hammell's Adobe account last fall.

Hammell has been released without bail until his sentencing hearing on September 6. Under the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 60 days in jail and probation.