Three high-profile local cases involving sexual conduct are making their way through the judicial system.
Independence Township resident Guy Robert Lendrum was sentenced by Oakland Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot to 18-3/4 to 30 years in prison on March 23.
Lendrum, 32, was charged last December with 12 counts of sexual assault on children ranging in age from 18 months to 12 years old, including his son and daughter. He pleaded no contest to the charges in February, and his actions led to the discovery of a network of other adults from at least six other states and one other country who exchanged child pornography via computer.
While pleased with the sentence, Assistant County Prosecutor Matthew Roth would have liked to see a higher minimum on Lendrum’s prison term.
‘I don’t think there’s a sentence adequate for what he did,? Roth said.
Meanwhile, a former county sheriff’s deputy assigned to the Springfield Township substation pleaded guilty March 30 to multiple felony charges for viewing and distributing child pornography on his computer before Oakland Circuit Judge Nanci Grant.
John Gomez, 43, will face sentencing May 4. Roth said it is a fairly cut and dried case in light of thousands of pornographic images found on Gomez? personal computer at his Waterford home.
There is some question as to whether he will be sentenced to county jail or state prison. ‘We’re advocating for prison,? Roth said.
The formal charges followed Gomez? Jan. 2 resignation from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department. He had been a road patrol officer for 17 years and had worked out of the Springfield substation about a year. Investigators found no evidence of Gomez using work computers for the pornographic activity.
The Gomez case also was connected to interstate trading of pornographic images, with his arrest spurred by an investigation by police in Orange County, Calif. and Rockland County, N.Y.
Springfield Township resident Thomas Dittrich, 36, was to have faced sentencing March 26 in his conviction on seven charges of criminal sexual assault. Assistant County Prosecutor Cheryl Matthews said that case was adjourned to April 9.