A former Delaware County sheriff faces up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a child pornography charge Thursday.
Mark W. Wolfe, 50, of Sunbury, pleaded guilty to one charge of distribution of child pornography in U.S. District Court Thursday morning. Court officials said he could be sentenced to between five to 20 years in prison for the charge.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Wolfe was originally charged on three child pornography charges. The remaining two charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.
Wolfe was still in federal custody Thursday afternoon.
Wolfe surrendered himself to U.S. marshals in Columbus on Aug. 10, 2015.
Wolfe was Delaware County’s interim sheriff for five days in 2007 before the Republican Party central committee appointed Walter Davis as sheriff.
Court documents allege 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, 2015, downloaded several pornographic videos involving children from Wolfe’s IP address in Sunbury.
Investigators executed a search warrant of Wolfe’s home on July 31, 2015, and seized a laptop computer owned by Wolfe. Investigators say an examination of the laptop yielded 486 videos and 203 images of child pornography. Investigators say the youngest of the children being sexually abused was 8 months old.
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 added that Wolfe also told the others that he had had sexual acts with minors. During these conversations, Wolfe reportedly said his favorite age is 5 to 10 years old.
Court documents also indicate that a laptop computer, a desktop computer and an external hard drive were seized and are being held as evidence by the government.
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 stint as sheriff in 2007. Wolfe ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in Delaware County in 2000 and 2004.
Wolfe has reportedly worked for various law enforcement agencies throughout central Ohio. The Associated Press reported he had been police chief in Edison in Morrow County.
