4th co-defendant sentenced in ex-cop’s child porn case
Staff writer
A fourth and final co-defendant convicted for his role in a child sexual exploitation conspiracy ring operated by former sheriff’s deputy and Burns police chief Joel J. Womochil, 39, was sentenced Thursday in federal court.
Taylor Mullen, 33, Council Grove, was ordered to serve 30 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child — production of child pornography.
According to U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Danielle Thomas, charges against Womochil and three others stemmed from two separate conspiracies led by Womochil.
Court records show that in 2021, Mullen and his girlfriend, Jessica Quave, 38, Council Grove, created videos of themselves engaging in sexually explicit behavior with a child younger than 6 and sent the videos to Womochil.
Quave was sentenced in September to 30 years in prison.
Womochil and co-defendant Denise Sandmann, of Indiana, both were sentenced March 27 to 60 years in prison for two counts of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child — production of child pornography.
Womochil was a Marion County deputy from March, 2020, until November, 2022, when he resigned in a dispute over trading county-owned equipment to someone outside the agency for equipment that had been stolen.
He resigned Aug. 8, 2023, as police chief for Burns.
El Dorado police arrested him Aug. 15, 2023, for Butler County charges. At that time, he worked as a jailer in Butler County.
Womochil’s case was soon taken up by federal prosecutors and further investigation led to the arrests of Sandmann, Quave, and Mullin.
He originally was charged Aug. 16, 2023, in Butler County with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The following month, 21 additional counts, including 10 counts of aggravated Internet trading of child pornography, were filed.
Butler County charges were dismissed a year ago after the case was taken up by federal prosecutors.
He was charged in federal court in October, 2023, with knowingly receiving child pornography and possessing child pornography. Additional charges were added later.