Man admits possession of child pornography

A 53-year-old Gardnerville man admitted Monday he possessed sexually explicit images of children as young as 12 months old.

John Michael Parks pleaded guilty to one court of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a person under 16.

He is to be sentenced Aug. 11 and faces up to six years in prison, or probation if he is deemed not at risk to re-offend

In exchange for Parks' guilty plea, the district attorney's office agreed to dismiss four other charges that could have led to life in prison if convicted.

That prompted District Judge Michael Gibbons to ask what happened between Parks' arrest on Nov. 30 and negotiation of the plea agreement.

Originally, Parks was charged with two counts of lewdness with a child under age 14 and three counts of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of persons under age 16.

At the time of his arrest, Parks was accused of inappropriately touching a girl from January 2006 until Feb. 15, 2007 when the child was 4.

Parks made no comment in court other than to plead guilty and answer Gibbons' questions that he possessed the images and knew the children were under 16.

According to the complaint, the children in the pictures were 12 months, between 4-9 and 12 years old.

Parks' attorney, Ron Cauley, said his client had completed a psychosexual evaluation, but he did not disclose the results. If he is not a risk to re-offend, Parks is eligible for probation.

He must register as a sex offender and be on lifetime supervision by the adult probation department.

Gibbons asked about the difference between the original charges and the plea agreement, noting that he was allowed to consider the more serious offenses at sentencing.

"Possessing a photo is quantitatively different than touching a child inappropriately," Gibbons said.

"Mr. Parks shouldn't have any surprises at sentencing. I don't like to sentence people for something they did not plead guilty to," he said.

Cauley said the plea agreement was reached because of the age of the victim when the acts allegedly occurred, problems with a search warrant in gathering evidence, and the belief of the child's mother that she was not negatively impacted by the incident.

"The mother is not supportive of the defendant being incarcerated," Cauley said. "She doesn't believe her daughter was significantly negatively impacted by what happened when she was 4."

Gibbons questioned whether he would hear from the alleged victims at sentencing.

"I don't know what the victims are going to say. You could end up in prison for six years or on probation," he told Parks.

Cauley said Parks would like the victims to make statements at the sentencing.

"It would be very elucidating to the court to have the information," Cauley said.

Parks was arrested Nov. 30, 2007, at his residence in the 1000 block of Canal Drive in the East Valley. According to reports, the child's mother filed a report in February 2007 against Parks, whom she described as a family acquaintance.

After obtaining a search warrant, deputies seized computer equipment that contained sexually explicit images of the children. They do not believe any of the children depicted in the pictures live in the area.