Child porn charges

SUBLETTE COUNTY – A detective with a warrant seized and searched a Colorado man’s cell phone, looking for evidence of possession or delivery of controlled substances after he was cited as a minor possessing alcohol. The detective found something else.

Owen A. Dinicola, of Boulder Colo., is charged in Sublette County Circuit Court with two felony counts of alleged sexual exploitation of children, possession of child pornography on his Apple iPhone.

His Circuit Court preliminary hearing is Jan. 23 at 11 a.m.

On March 24, Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Benjamin Kiel cited Dinicola for minor in possession of alcohol, records show. Two citations were dismissed when Dinicola pleaded  guilty on June 22, paying a $30 fine and $70 in court costs, records show.

In the meantime, WHP turned Dinicola’s Apple iPhone over to Sublette County drug detective Karson Turner “for evidence of a crime, namely possession and or delivery of a controlled substance.”

WHP seized Dinicola’s phone “during an illegal controlled substance investigation,” according to Detective Travis Lanning’s affidavit.

On April 5, Turner reported to Lanning he saw child pornography on the phone, it says.

Videos appeared to show young females with adult men, it says, and a report indicates “child victims in the pornography videos were known and identified victims,” he wrote, both younger than 10 years old.

Each felony has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine.


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