Sentinel Man Charged With Aggravated Possession of Child Pornography

A Sentinel man is facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison following his arrest earlier this month on a single felony count of aggravated possession of child pornography.

John Lehman, 82, was charged with the felony in Washita County District Court March 13 after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation concluded a more than year-long investigation into his online activities.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Special Agent David Gatlin, he received information Jan. 10, 2019, that a user of Pioneer Long Distance was suspected of downloading child pornography between Dec. 23, 2018. and Jan. 9, 2019, through the free eMule peer-to-peer file sharing network. Further suspected child pornography was downloaded between Jan. 9, 2019, and Jan. 13, 2019.

Gatlin managed to trace the Internet Protocol (IP) address and the unique eMule “Hash” identifier to Lehman’s home computer, after obtaining Title 18 court orders for Pioneer Long Distance IP records.

Gatlin, along with an agent of the OSBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force, conducted a “knock and talk” at Lehman’s residence. According the Gatlin’s affidavit, during the interview, Lehman said he had been downloading pornography via eMule for 30 years. Lehman said that he would occasionally download child pornography by mistake, due to misleading file labels, and he would delete those files immediately.

Gatlin received permission from Lehman to confiscate his home computer and send it to the OSBI laboratory for a forensic download. The results of that download were received by Gatlin on Feb. 13, 2020. The laboratory’s analysis reportedly uncovered 321 images of suspected child pornography and 51 videos. After further review Gatlin deter mined there were 236 images of a nude child, who appeared to be 10 to 13 years of age, in posing in various sexual positions. The computer also reportedly contained one video of a nude child estimated to be 10 years old, performing sexual acts.

Lehman was arrested and charged with a single felony count of aggravated possession of child pornography. If convicted he could be sentenced to up to life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine, or both. He would also be required to register as a sex offender.

Lehman was released on $250,000 bond.