Vawter Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

The former scout leader was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.The former scout leader was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.

A former Danville Cub Scout leader on Friday was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

Michael Vawter, 41, pleaded guilty in December to the federal charge. The U.S. Attorney General’s Office knocked off a second count, receipt of child pornography, as part of the plea bargain.

Vawter was a den leader for pack 802 in Danville since 2008. He was arrested by San Ramon police in March last year after a co-worker at San Ramon-based CCI Financial & Insurance Services – where Vawter was vice president – reported him to a cybercrime tipline.

The Boy Scouts of America revoked his membership days later.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office originally prosecuted the case, but those charges were dropped and replaced by a federal grand jury’s indictment in October.

Vawter was arrested by the FBI and placed in federal custody.

A sentencing memorandum says Vawter lived with his mother between the time he posted $200,000 bail after his March arrest and his second arrest in October.

Vawter’s sentence requires him to pay a $12,500 fine and $1,700 restitution to the 15 known victims depicted in the videos he downloaded. Investigators say they found 187 videos in his possession depicting children engaged in sexual acts with adults.

Upon his release, Vawter will have to register as a sex offender.

The penalty was deemed sufficient because Vawter has no criminal record and reputation as an active church member and community volunteer, according to the sentencing memorandum.

He has two children, ages 11 and 8, and a wife of 17 years. Since his own parents divorced five years ago, Vawter has cared for his disabled, wheelchair-bound mother, said his attorney Bill Gagen.

Immediately after his March arrest, Vawter voluntarily signed up for counseling. The arrest triggered deep depression and thoughts of suicide, according to court records.

Vawter said he had always only viewed porn depicting adult women. Then, several years ago, his company hired a new technology manager who showed Vawter how to set up automatic links to porn sites from his company laptop, Vawter told prosecutors.

Those links were what Vawter used to download porn for the past several years, he told the U.S. attorney’s office.

“He began to receive adult pornography and, as he has admitted, spent more and more time, compulsively, viewing the material,” according to Gagen in the memorandum filed this month in federal court. “Over time, one link led to another link.”

The first unsolicited links to child porn, Vawter deleted. But as he kept getting them, he eventually started watching them. Then, “in his characteristic compulsive fashion,” proceeded to collect them, court records say.

Eventually, Vawter’s compulsive downloading impeded his co-workers’ ability to access computer resources, which led to an investigation. When child porn was discovered, someone from the company alerted a San Jose-based tipline run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The treatment Vawter submitted to after his first arrest has given him insight into his behavior, court papers say. Doctors said there’s a slim chance he would re-offend upon release, and that he’s not a threat to the community.

Fifty-seven people, including his wife and older brother, wrote letters in Vawter’s defense.

The U.S. attorney general’s office said Vawter apologized in court to his family and the community.

To read a copy of the sentencing memorandum, click on the document attached to the article.