Rochester Man Admits to Child Porn Charge

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has admitted to a child pornography charge stemming from an investigation into numerous harassment complaints brought against him two years ago.

38-year-old John Dewey Church today entered a Norgaard plea to a single count of possession of child pornography. The plea means he admits guilt but does not have any recollection of committing the crime due to impairment, most often caused by drug or alcohol use.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into the harassment complaints resulted in the seizure of a cell phone from Church that was connected to an Apple iCloud account linked to Church. A search of the phone uncovered 10 images of suspected child abuse material. Two of the images were recognized as known child abuse material through a national database operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Church was sentenced last year to 150 days in jail for a felony terroristic threats conviction involving a senior member of the Rochester Police Department that was connected to the harassment investigation. He also admitted to several gross misdemeanor harassment charges for violating restraining orders.

He is scheduled to be sentenced for the child pornography conviction on June 2.