A former Delaware County sheriff turned himself in Monday to face federal allegations of child pornography.
Mark W. Wolfe, 50, of 11720 Kilbourne Road, Sunbury, surrendered himself to U.S. marshals in Columbus Monday after a warrant was issued for his arrest by U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King.
The criminal complaint, filed by FBI investigators, alleges that between Sept. 1, 2010, and July 28, 2015, Wolfe received and distributed videos and pictures of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity.
Undercover agents from the FBI were conducting an investigation into online child pornography and on June 5 downloaded several pornographic videos involving children from an IP address in Sunbury.
Upon investigation with Time Warner Cable, the IP address was determined to be registered to Wolfe at his home.
FBI agents also learned that a similar undercover operation in Belmont County also downloaded several video files from Wolfe’s IP address.
Investigators executed a search warrant of Wolfe’s home on July 31 and seized a laptop computer belonging to Wolfe.
Investigators say a preliminary examination of the laptop yielded 486 videos and 203 images of child pornography.
Analysis of the laptop also revealed chat messages between Wolfe and several others between September 2014 and June 2015. Investigators say pornographic files were transferred during the chats.
Investigators say Wolfe stated in the messages that he had sex with a 13-year-old girl who was a friend of his daughter.
Wolfe also told an individual that he touched his children when they were around 2 years old and that he would be willing to show others his children if they would show him their children.
Investigators say that Wolfe has two sons under the age of 10 and a toddler-age daughter.
Wolfe appeared in federal court in Columbus Monday afternoon.
Officials from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office reported that Wolfe was appointed as interim sheriff by Delaware County commissioners on May 31, 2007 ,when Sheriff Al Myers stepped down.
Wolfe was reportedly the sheriff for only five days until he was removed from that position by the Republican Party central committee and Sheriff Walter Davis was appointed.
Officials say that Wolfe served as a deputy in the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office from August 1994 to September 1997 and has had no association with the sheriff’s office since his removal in 2007.
Wolfe has reportedly worked for various law enforcement agencies throughout central Ohio. Wolfe is currently the founder and president of AREA Security & Consulting.
