A 48-year-old Half Moon Bay man was charged with felony child pornography possession after a computer repair technician working on his machine reportedly found numerous videos and photos of adults having sex with minors.
Marvin Jay Winn was formally charged Friday with 72 felony counts of child pornography possession and remains in custody on $570,000 bail.
Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Winn March 1 at his home just south of Half Moon Bay. A week prior, a computer repair person alerted Half Moon Bay police that while working on Winn’s unit he found questionable images.
The two agencies took Winn’s computer and determined he was downloading child pornography from the Internet, according to a press release from Sheriff’s Capt. Don O’Keefe.
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Prosecutors charged Winn under a new 2007 law that lets child pornography be considered either a misdemeanor or a felony, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
There is no evidence at this point Winn was sharing the images or abusing minors himself. Investigators are still looking into the source of Winn’s alleged collection.
If convicted, Winn faces lifelong registration as a sex offender and a "substantial” prison term, Wagstaffe said.
Winn has two prior misdemeanor convictions in San Mateo County but the charges are not similar to his current case, according to court records clerks.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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