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WPS principal appeals detention order to Ninth Circuit
Whispering Palms School principal Thomas Weindl is appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the federal court’s order for his continued detention while awaiting trial on a child porn charge.
Weindl, through counsel, filed a notice in the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Friday about his appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Weindl wants the Ninth Circuit to reverse U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona’s detention order issued on July 17.
No argument was presented in the notice of appeal.
The 57-year-old Weindl is facing charges of using a laptop to view child pornographic materials, mostly of 11-year-old girls.
After conducting a detention hearing, Manglona said the facts require that Weindl be kept detained after finding probable cause to believe that he has committed an offense for which a maximum prison term of 10 years or more is prescribed
The judge determined that the defendant has not rebutted the presumption that no condition will reasonably assure his appearance and the safety of the community.
In the U.S. government’s motion, the prosecution cited that as indicated in the e-blaster reports, Weindl searched for and accessed almost 200 websites containing images of child pornography.
E-blaster is a computer and Internet monitoring software program.
The prosecution said that several of the searches conducted and websites accessed, specifically reference “11-year-old girl” and “12-year-old” engaging in sexual conduct.
The prosecution added that Weindl also searched for images depicting the violent sexual abuse of children.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Weindl last month on charges of receipt of child pornography and accessing child pornography with intent to view.
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
