March 2 (UPI) — The mayor of a Maryland city has been arrested on 56 counts of child pornography charges after he submitted his letter of resignation, police said Thursday.
Patrick Wojahn, the mayor of College Park, has been charged with 40 counts of possession of child exploitative material and 16 counts of distribution of child exploitative material, officials with Prince George‘s County Police Department said in a news release.
Wojahn, 47, was arrested after police received a notice from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a social media account was distributing suspected child pornography.
Investigators determined Wojahn owned the account, which had posted sexually explicit photos and videos of children, through “various investigative techniques.”
Detectives searched Wojahn’s home in the Washington, D.C., suburb on Tuesday and found “multiple cell phones, a storage device, a tablet and a computer,” police said.
City officials on Thursday released the resignation letter Wojahn had sent the city council, in which he called it a “profound honor and privilege” to serve the community.
“On February 28, 2023, a search warrant was executed on my residence as part of an ongoing police investigation. I have cooperated fully, and will continue to cooperate, with law enforcement,” Wojahn said in the resignation letter.
“While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction.”
City officials said in a statement that Wojahn had submitted his resignation after business hours on Wednesday, and thanked him for serving College Park as a city council member since 2007. Wojahn has served as mayor since 2015.
“Effective immediately, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell will serve as presiding officer until a Special Election is held and a new Mayor has been sworn in,” the statement reads.
The city charter requires that a special election be held within 65 days.
