LANDER — A Wyoming judge has doubts about whether she’ll accept a plea agreement allowing a five-to-seven-year prison sentence for a man accused of trafficking pornography involving infants, toddlers and dogs.
“At first glance this plea agreement gives me pause,” said Wyoming District Court Judge Kate McKay on Tuesday in the Fremont County District Court in Lander, moments before Wayne Matthew Hatch pleaded “no contest” to sending child pornography.
“I find it to be a lenient plea agreement given the circumstances in the affidavit,” continued McKay. “I want to be very up front about that.”
McKay said she didn’t have enough information about Hatch before her Tuesday to make final decisions, and said that both her decision about whether to accept his plea agreement and Hatch’s sentencing will happen later.
The judge urged Hatch and his attorney, Fremont County Public Defender supervisor Jon Gerard, to discuss whether Hatch still wanted to plead to the charge in light of McKay’s hesitance.
Gerard noted that the plea agreement contains a mercy provision, that if McKay rejects the terms of the agreement, Hatch can withdraw his no-contest plea. He could then go to trial or pursue a different agreement.
Still, Gerard discussed the case’s factors with Hatch in a whisper, while Hatch nodded intermittently.
Hatch decided to give his plea anyway.
The Allegations
According to an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents were alerted via an online tip about possible child pornography on a Kik account they later found to be associated with Hatch.
The files contained 16 videos of infants and toddlers being molested, and videos of prepubescent females having sex with dogs, the affidavit says. The email address associated with Hatch’s phone was also reportedly associated with Cash App transactions the latter application had flagged as child exploitation material.
Hatch was already on probation for trying to sneak methamphetamine into the Fremont County Detention Center in 2022.
Two DCI agents interviewed Hatch on March 19.
Hatch reportedly claimed he was trying to be a “vigilante,” and was trying to extort and blackmail child porn sellers.
The Plea Agreement
The plea agreement Hatch signed May 22 says that in exchange for his no-contest plea to the child pornography trafficking charge, the state will drop its other two charges against him — one for child pornography trafficking and one for child pornography possession.
It says if he violates his bond between now and sentencing, the state can withdraw its portion of the agreement and push for a heavier sentence.
It also says that he’ll serve the five to seven years in prison concurrently, or simultaneously, with another prison stretch Fremont County Assistant Attorney Ember Oakley will now request for Hatch’s conviction of bringing methamphetamine into a jail.
He was originally sentenced to probation on that charge, along with a theft charge for stealing from Walmart. But that sentence was suspended over a potential two-year prison sentence, meaning that if he violated his probation, he could be sent to prison.
In Court
In court Tuesday, Hatch fidgeted. The shackles bound around his belly and both wrists jangled faintly as he waited for McKay to enter at the start of his hearing.
Hatch doesn’t intend to post his $40,000 cash-only bond ahead of his sentencing hearing, Gerard noted.
The terms of Hatch’s bond were upgraded somewhat in his favor, allowing more familial contact.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
