MOHAVE COUNTY – Defendants from Fort Mohave and Lake Havasu City appeared in Mohave County Superior Court this week as their child pornography cases are being resolved in similar, formulaic fashion.
With some frequency law enforcement agency monitoring activity leads to arrests with suspects often possessing scores of images or videos of minors “engaged in exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct.” Each image or video can bring a sexual exploitation of a minor charge.
No matter how many illegal images seized, agencies and/or the Mohave County Attorney’s Office commonly charge just ten counts because conviction for each brings a consecutive, mandatory ten year prison term under Arizona law.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have a boilerplate approach for resolving such cases short of trial. Time after time, the plea deals involve dismissal of eight counts and guilty pleas to two counts reduced to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
Punishment terms most often involve a five-year prison sentence followed by supervised probation and life-long sex offender registration requirements.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors alike contend the sanctions are sufficient for men who haven’t actually touched any children, as opposed to any of them serving multiple decades behind bars. The cases are handled more harshly when there’s proof specific children being harmed.
That was the reality for Brian Hasler, 57, Lake Havasu, as he entered his plea agreement Tuesday before Judge Billy Sipe. Deputy county attorney Rod Albright said Hasler uploaded child porn videos to his cloud account via the internet between Feb. and April this year.
Albright told the Court one conviction involves video of a pre-pubescent girl and the other a video of two pre-pubescent boys.
Hasler faces the five years, plus probation scenario at a Jan. 3 sentencing hearing.
The same terms of punishment were meted out Monday for Richard Seibert, 59, Fort Mohave. Seibert told Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen that trauma endured as a child in foster programs ruined what became a very reclusive life.
Seibert said he sorelly needs routine and willl happily serve prison time.
“I love structure,” said Seibert, explaining he’ll do better where rules are in play. “I thrive in that environment.”
Dave Hawkins
