MOHAVE VALLEY — Outbursts from the gallery twice interrupted a December 3 sentencing hearing for a Mohave Valley man who pleaded guilty in a child pornography case. Lane Hunter, 23, is convicted of four counts reduced to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office public information specialist Anita Mortensen said local law enforcement became involved when the Internet Crimes Against Children Task force advised it had detected illegal cyberspace activity involving child sexual abuse materials.
Mortensen said investigation led to Hunter’s Mohave Valley home in the 7000 block of Valley Parkway Court where an occupant indicated that the suspect was staying with a family member in Lake Havasu City. She said Hunter was arrested on August 5 after he was contacted at the Lake Havasu residence.
The guilty pleas are associated with Hunter’s possession of screen shots from child porn videos.
Nelson noted that Hunter was previously convicted in another state of aggravated indecent liberties with a seven-year-old stepsister when he was less than 18 years old. She said the new convictions, combined with the previous sex offense case, justify a 15-year prison sentence.
“You’re out of your mind,” a Hunter supporter said from the courtroom gallery, eliciting a “shush” from superior court judge Megan McCoy. She told the spectator that he’d be ordered out of the courtroom if he further interrupted.
Defense attorney Bob Heieck urged the Court to order a prison sentence on the lower end of the range involving a five-year minimum.
Nelson countered that Hunter should be incarcerated for a longer period of time, given a prior minor victim-related conviction, and violating probation while undergoing sex offender treatment while engaged in illegal child porn activity.
Judge McCoy imposed a 7-year prison term for Hunter.
“That’s way too much. You’re tearing people apart,” the same heckler exclaimed from the gallery. “He did wrong, but that’s way too much.
“Out!,” McCoy said, evicting the man who continued complaining while exiting the courtroom.
McCoy also ordered that Hunter shall serve lifetime probation once released from the Arizona Department of Corrections. She encouraged Hunter to work on bettering himself.
“This is not something that makes you irredeemable. This is something you have to address,” she said. “I can tell you, you’re not alone. I see cases like this everyday.”
