NORWICH – A Town of Greene man accused of generating and then sending child pornography over the Internet appeared in Chenango County Court Monday where police testified they had to record an alleged confession twice after an original DVD malfunctioned and failed to record any audio.
The New York State Police arrested 52-year-old Wyatt E. McDonough June 16 following a week-long investigation by the New York State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
McDonough is charged with predatory sexual assault against a child, a class A-II felony, first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a B class felony.
District Attorney Joseph McBride said the allegations took place at McDonough’s residence, and involved the sexual abuse of a child as young as eight years old over a period of several years. According to the indictment the alleged crimes occurred over a period of time between 2004 and 2007.
On the day of his arrest, State Police Senior Investigator Lori A. Hochdanner said one group of officers picked up McDonough at his place of work and another raided his home with a warrant issued by the Town of Greene Court.
Hochdanner testified police removed pornographic images of the victim from the home’s computer and a cell phone taken from the McDonough’s pick-up truck at work.
She also said other occupants living in the home aided police in locating electronic materials during the search.
Hochdanner said police began an investigation in June after being notified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of suspicious Internet activity. She said the group allegedly detected a pornographic image of a child being sent to an Internet user in England that originated from McDonough’s computer.
State Police Investigator William Gorman testified that police arrested McDonough and conducted an interview at the New York State Station Police station in Endwell.
Gorman said an interview, where police allegedly read McDonough his rights and he then confessed to the crime, failed to record any audio onto a surveillance DVD.
“We have the DVD interview but its only visual, the audio failed to record,” he testified.
During the alleged conversation Gorman said, “(McDonough) stated he started having (sexual) contact with (the victim) when she was eight or nine years old,” he told the court.
Gorman claimed McDonough admitted to having sexual relations with the girl just three weeks before his arrest and named a number of other occasions
Gorman also testified police did not obtain any written record of McDonough’s first interview or a written acknowledgment of his Miranda warnings.
Following the interview, however, Norwich State Police Investigators Michelle M. Marshall and Jason Bessett said they picked up McDonough from the Endwell station to transport him to the substation Greene.
Marshall testified that, during the car ride, both officers turned on their portable hand recorders and held a second discussion with McDonough where he allegedly admitted his crimes a second time.
Marshall said she asked McDonough if he had been Mirandized after the three got into the car and then began talking about the incident as they traveled to Greene.
“When we first got in the car, I asked if he had been given his Miranda rights. I asked if he understood his rights. He said yes,” testified Marshall. “We did not read his Miranda rights to him.”
Public Defender Alan Gordon pointed out that police had no physical record they informed McDonough of his Miranda rights since the first interview failed to record an alleged oral explanation of them.
“So the issue of having, or talking to a lawyer never came up during your conversations,” he asked Marshall who responded “no.”
Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan reserved on a decision to allow the alleged confession into evidence at trial.
McDonough remains at the Chenango County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.