COLUMBUS (WBNS) – In a motion filed Friday, the attorney for former 10TV meteorologist Mike Davis argues his client should not be sent to prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year.
Davis pleaded guilty in January to four counts of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor. Authorities first downloaded thousands of images of children being exploited and emailed them to himself.
Davis was terminated from 10TV in September after charges against him were filed. He spent more than 30 years working in the weather department.
The recent motion filed by Davis’ attorney, Terry Sherman, states: “Prison rarely rehabilitates. It incapacitates and punishes. Some people need that; Mr. Davis does not. After an in-depth evaluation, as outlined in her report, Dr. Jolie Barns found that Mr. Davis is amenable to rehabilitation. Additional information has been provided to the court detailing Mr. Davis’ character, contributions to the community, and support network. More than anything, Mr. Davis has the desire and willingness to do whatever it takes to rise above his destructive offense behavior. His potential for further process through treatment at CBCF River City and/or court ordered therapy is powerful.”
Sherman also noted that:
“Mr. Davis has already paid a tremendously heavy price for his crime. His actions have caused significant pain, embarrassment, and shame for him and his entire family. These consequences are lifelong and cannot be undone. Mr. Davis has ruined a reputation which took him a lifetime to build and foreclosed any future ability to obtain employment in the media or in related professional arenas. Mr. Davis spent much of his life serving the Columbus community. He volunteered for organizations and helped hundreds in the community. Now, he is too ashamed to even show his face in public.
Mr. Davis will be a registered sex offender for many years to come and his being likened as a sex offender will be forever inscribed on the internet. What he has done to himself and what he has and will endure is a punishment worse than any prison sentence…”
Sherman points out that Davis has no prior criminal history and requested in his motion that Davis get sentenced to a term of treatment at CBCF River City near Cincinnati “and/or an extensive period of community control.
Despite this request, Davis could still get prison time.
Both prosecutors and Judge Karen Phipps pointed out that second-degree felony cases often presume a prison sentence. Davis could spend between 25 to 29.5 years in prison on the charges he pleaded guilty to.
Prosecutors allege that he downloaded 16,000 child pornography images and emailed them to himself over a period of years.
Davis was arrested on Sept. 5 after the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a Yahoo! Inc. account associated with Davis’ email address had uploaded more than 15,000 images of suspected child pornography using that email address.
According to the affidavit in support of the search warrant, “the complaint described the images as being female children ranging in the age from pre-teen to young teenager.”
Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25.
