A Smethport man spontaneously rejected his guilty plea at his scheduled sentencing Thursday.
64-year-old Daniel Walter Merrick previously pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child porn, one count of 499 images and videos, and another of 199 images and videos.
During the scheduled sentencing, Merrick introduced a number of letters in support of his character, as well as a report from a doctor as mitigating circumstances to consider with sentencing.
Judge Pavlock stopped Merrick’s statement, when it seemed that he was arguing that he was in fact innocent of the charges and had merely acquired the hundreds of images of child porn as part of a personal investigation into human trafficking.
In a statement, Merrick also pointed to his military service and work as a pastor to mitigate his sentence as well, while DA Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer pointed out that many people are military veterans who do not abuse children.
After consulting with his attorney, Merrick chose to withdraw his guilty plea and the case will now be listed for trial.
hammer him DA