ST. PAUL -- A 65-year-old St. Paul man -- found with thousands of images of child pornography, including a series with a child in a blue-and-white "Lion King" nightgown -- was sentenced Wednesday to six years and three months in prison.
James Garlen Winningham had been convicted of a similar charge 25 years ago, but the conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals. He allegedly took pornographic photos of two children living in the Stillwater home where he rented a room.
Winningham pleaded guilty June 21 to nine of 17 recent felony charges of possessing child pornography at his apartment in the 500 block of North Snelling Avenue. The remaining charges were dropped at sentencing.
Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Eric Leonard told Judge Gary Bastian that the pornographic photos featured children as young as 2 and 3 being sexually penetrated by adults.
"The truth is that it's people like this that create a demand (for the images)," Leonard said. "Young children have to endure sexual abuse so somebody can photograph kids."
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The child in the nightgown is an example, he said. "That's a real little girl, and she was abused so people like Mr. Winningham can satisfy their sexual desires."
Winningham's attorney, Lisa Hallberg, said he had "significant mental health issues since his participation in the Vietnam War" that had not been adequately addressed.
Bastian ordered that, in addition to prison time, Winningham be registered as a predatory offender for the
rest of his life.
The Court of Appeals overturned Winningham's previous conviction in 1987 because the jury in his Washington County trial was accidentally allowed to see letters written by Winningham to commercial photographers. In the letters, he used vulgar and graphic terms about children. Those letters had been ruled inadmissible by the judge.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
