It will be jail time, but not prison time, for a former Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy who became involved in viewing and distributing child pornography.
John Gomez, 43, was sentenced to one year in a county jail, an additional year of house arrest with electronic tether, three years probation and 500 hours of community service by Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant.
The 17-year sheriff’s department veteran who had worked out of the Springfield Township substation for about a year had resigned from the department prior to his arrest. Waterford police had raided his home to find computers and related materials with thousands of pornographic images.
He pleaded guilty March 30 to multiple felony charges. 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.
Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Roth said the sentence was appropriate, although not quite as severe as hoped, as the judge will allow Gomez to serve time in a county jail rather than a state prison.
‘We were hoping the judge would give prison time,? Roth said.
Gomez will be allowed to serve his sentence in another county jail, not Oakland County, Roth said, but there were no compromises in the prosecution.
‘We will not plea bargain this kind of case,? he said, noting the ’emotional and physical harm? to each of the children depicted in the pornographic images.