A Green River judge did not hesitate Thursday to deny a woman accused of sending child pornography a chance to get out of jail and go to a treatment center.
Jaycee Morgan Cherny, 29, of Rock Springs, is charged with one count of making child pornography, another of sending child porn and a third of possessing child porn.
The first two counts are punishable by five to 12 years in prison and $10,000 in fines each, while the third carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Cherny has finished her jail sentences on misdemeanor charges of drug possession, theft and trespassing, and now has the chance to enter a treatment facility starting July 8, her attorney Gary Blake Arnell Jr. told Sweetwater County District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson during a Thursday bond hearing.
“Getting into treatment would be a positive for her,” said Arnell.
Cherny has another ongoing felony case in which she’s accused of exposing a child to meth and trying to sneak meth into a jail using a bodily cavity, court documents say.
Arnell proposed varying options: either give Cherny a furlough, or a break from jail to attend treatment; or give her an “own recognizance” bond so she could get out of jail on a promise that she’d pay the bail if she violated her bond conditions.
A third option, said Arnell, would be to treat the treatment center as incarceration itself so that if Cherny fled treatment she’d face a felony escape charge.
Robinson said the law doesn’t account for that third option, since it defines incarceration facilities in specific terms for the purposes of the escape charge.
As to the possibility of a signature bond, Robinson cast that as a drastic request.
Between her two pending cases, Cherny’s bond sits at $240,000 cash or surety, meaning she or a company in agreement with her would have to post that much money to get her out of jail.
“The new case (contains) really serious allegations,” said Robinson. “They haven’t been proven, Ms. Cherny, but I still have to consider them.”
“With all of that said,” the judge continued, “I cannot modify your bond to an OR (recognizance) bond. I really cannot.”
Sweetwater County Deputy Attorney Lauren Radakovich had told the judge that the case prosecutor, Deputy Attorney Steven Anselmi-Stith, did “not take a position on modifying bond (and) would leave it to the discretion of the court.”
And That Is Denied
Arnell asked Robinson whether Cherny could be released on furlough, just long enough to take advantage of the opening at the treatment facility.
“That’s also denied, yes,” said Robinson.
Lastly, Arnell asked Robinson if she’d consolidate the bonds, so that Cherny could post $40,000 cash or surety to go to treatment.
“I believe I’ve already considered that — and that is denied,” answered the judge.
Court Documents Say …
The evidentiary affidavit in Cherny’s most recent case, compiled from the notes of Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Dakota Carlsen, doesn’t go into detail on what drew law enforcement to suspect her of transmitting child pornography.
Elsewhere in her court file, however, documents note that Cherny was in and out of jail on a case accusing her of child endangerment for meth exposure, and smuggling meth into a jail using a genital orifice, among other allegations.
Carlsen applied for a search warrant for Cherny’s phone April 15, and Rock Springs Circuit Court Judge John Prokos granted that, the document says.
Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Detective Matt Wharton used a data acquisition system, which unearthed photographs and videos that the phone indicated were sent through a messenger application in February, wrote Carlsen.
Wharton’s extraction revealed three photographs and seven videos of interest.
Carlsen described at least two of those as alleged child sexual abuse material involving a prepubescent boy with his nude bottom region exposed in what the camera framing indicated was not a selfie-shot photo — and other sexual circumstances involved.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
