CASPER — A 60-year-old Casper man told a judge Thursday that he’s “a victim” before he was sentenced to 12-15 years in prison for six child pornography charges and a drug offense.
Mark Chanez tried to fire his attorney at a previous sentencing hearing, and said Thursday that he’s the victim in this case because the nearly 1,100 images of child erotica found on his cellphone were planted there “while I was asleep."
Instead Chanez, who had been free on $75,000 bond, got the maximum prison time allowed under a plea deal he made with the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office in June.
“This is a severe injustice, your honor,” Chanez told the judge as he was being led away by Natrona County Sheriff’s Office deputies. “I am a victim. I was victimized. This all happened while I was asleep.”
1,083 Files
Chanez was arrested on Nov. 20, 2024, after Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation efforts to look into an April 2, 2024, cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that led them to him.
DCI special agents reported finding more than 70 video files on Chanez’s cellphone that included depictions of adult males in sex acts with young female children.
The agents' investigation also found 1,083 files tied to Chanez’s Google account depicting child erotica.
Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson told the court in his sentencing request that Chanez “holds himself unaccountable in these matters.”
“What we are discussing is the documented abuse of children,” Nelson said. “They are continually victimized by the viewing and consumption of these images.”
‘Evolving Stories'
Nelson said DCI evidence showed that Chanez had organized the child porn files on his phone and his allegations that the files were planted on his phone did not hold up to scrutiny.
He reminded the court that Chanez’s girlfriend talked about how he always “locks his phone.”
Chanez had “evolving stories” through the investigation and court process, Nelson said.
He asked the court to sentence Chavez to four to five years for the first two counts of sexual exploitation of children and have them served concurrently, and then similar years for counts three and four, and five and six of the same sexual exploitation of children charge.
Nelson asked the judge to make each pairing of counts consecutive to one another, bringing the prison total to 12-15 years.
He also asked the judge to sentence Chanez to three to five years in prison on the possession of a controlled substance, third offense, to be served concurrently with the first two sexual exploitation of children charges.
‘No Danger To Community’
Defense attorney Kurt Infanger, who Chanez wanted dismissed at his previous sentencing hearing but then changed his mind, told the court that his client had performed well during his nearly year on bond waiting for the charges to be resolved.
Infanger said Chanez only had two misdemeanor drug charges prior to his arrest and had problems with his health that prevented him from working.
He pointed out that the pre-sentence investigation gave his client only a “moderate” chance of engaging in similar child pornography activity in the future.
“I don’t think my client represents a danger to the community,” he said.
Infanger said Chanez “still maintains” that the images found on his phone were planted there.
He asked for a three-to-five-year prison sentence that would be suspended and for Chanez to be placed on three years of supervised probation.
Chanez told the court that his plea deal had been “pushed on me” and that the DCI agents did not take into account that someone he allowed to stay at his house could have planted the images on his phone.
He described himself as a “gentle and nice person,” and said he fought with Google over his accounts. He agreed the images were “bad.”
“I didn’t put it there,” he said. “Why am I being singled out?”
Judge Adopts Prosecutor’s Request
Judge Catherine Wilking said she would follow Nelson’s recommendation on sentencing and went through the charges, sentencing Chanez to the maximum asked for.
After Wilking’s remarks, Chanez spoke from the court podium next to Infanger as deputies approached.
“I am not a predator, I am not a sex offender,” he said.
Wilking responded, "You are in the custody of the bailiffs at this time. Go with them.”
The DCI arrest affidavit states that Chanez told agents during an initial interview that he was bisexual and that his searches for child pornography was a “curiosity thing.”
He also told agents that he was collecting the child pornography files on Facebook to report to Facebook, and also said he had attempted to report the child pornography files to Casper police.
Agents checked with Casper police and found no calls in the department's database that showed him ever attempting to report child pornography files.
The affidavit stated that Chanez “later claimed child pornography files were ‘planted’ by someone else on his cellphone as Chanez allowed numerous people to stay at his residence and utilize his electronic devices.”
DCI agents later interviewed Chanez’s girlfriend, who he lived with, and she told them that he would only leave his phone unattended if he went to the bathroom, but even then, often took it in there with him.
“Chanez also had all his electronic devices passcode protected and encouraged his girlfriend to do the same,” the affidavit stated. “Chanez’s girlfriend did not know his passcodes and never saw anyone else use his electronic devices.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
