VA- Child porn charges dropped

9-4-2008 Virginia:

A Crozet man whose wife told police that she found child pornography on his computer is no longer facing charges.

The Albemarle County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office has agreed not to prosecute 17 counts of possession of child pornography against Walter David Gregory Jr. Gregory had been scheduled to face trial on those charges Wednesday in Albemarle Circuit Court.

Gregory’s wife, Lisa Gregory, told police that she found the pictures on her husband’s computer with the help of Eric Gray, a friend’s fiancé. Jon Zug, assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said Gray was able to override the password protection on the computer.

While searching last month for Gray to serve him a subpoena for Gregory’s trial, Zug said, authorities discovered he was a sex offender. The prosecution’s case also was hurt when authorities realized that a statement Gregory’s wife made during a preliminary hearing was inaccurate.

“She had indicated a timeframe when he left that would have been before the images proved to be determined to be downloaded,” Zug said.

Zug said he realized a jury likely would find Gregory not guilty and piece together another theory on how the pictures got onto the computer.

Gregory, 45, was arrested on the possession charges last year. Prior to his wife’s discovery, Zug said, Gregory had skipped town and failed to show up for a court date on another matter. He remained in jail for the failure to appear in court charge, of which he was later acquitted, as well as the pornography charges.

According to court records, Gregory also was found guilty of a forgery charge in January and sentenced to pay $975 in court costs.

Zug said Gregory remains in jail because of another charge pending in the county’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Neither Lisa Gregory nor defense attorney Richard Davis could be reached for comment.

Zug said the county was diligent in seeking out details in the case and kept the investigation going until the trial.

“This is first time that I’ve had a case of this nature fall apart like this,” Zug said. “When I say it’s rare, it’s really rare.” ..News Source.. by staff reports