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New details surface in ex-fire captain child porn case

Isaac Brambila
ibrambila@tahoedailytribune.com

SACRAMENTO — A federal indictment presented Thursday against former South Lake Tahoe Fire Capt. Mark McLeod Wygant revealed a connection between Wygant and the victim involved in the six counts Wygant faces in federal court.

Additionally, the indictment shed light on further details about the events that led to Wygant’s arrest late last month.

According to the charges listed in the indictment, Wygant was legally responsible for the juvenile victim.



The indictment, which charges Wygant with five counts of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of sexual exploitation of children, states that Wygant “knowingly permitted the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct … for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct.”

The charges all relate to the production or attempted production of child pornography material.



The new charges focus on events that occurred on or about Feb. 14, 2011, April 25, 2011, June 22, 2011, Jan. 2, 2012 and Feb. 9, 2012.

An FBI affidavit filed with federal court on Jan. 30 alleges that Wygant filmed the victim by placing an iPhone in a bathroom to record the victim naked for sexual gratification.

Thursday’s indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation for material that contains visual depictions. The forfeiture items included an external hard drive, an iPhone 4s, four cameras and a USB drive.

Wygant was arrested on Jan. 29 following an FBI and South Lake Tahoe Police Department investigation. He was initially charged with a single count of receiving child pornography, but that charge was dismissed after a federal grand jury returned the six-count indictment on Thursday.

If convicted, Wygant faces between 15 and 20 years in prison for each count and a fine for as much as $250,000.

Wygant resigned his position of South Lake Tahoe Fire Department Captain days after his arrest, following the completion of a City of South Lake Tahoe investigation into the allegations against him.

He is in federal custody in Sacramento and was scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges Friday.


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