FREEHOLD – A Middletown man who defended his actions as a pedophile during his trial last year was sentenced to 46 years in state prison Friday. The man was found guilty of preying on young video-gamers using his Xbox gaming system as a tool to sexually abuse the boys, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Gary Wolchesky, 28, of Middletown, was sentenced by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Richard W. English after he was found guilty in November of 21 counts related to the sexual assaults of the boys, including two counts of first degree Aggravated Sexual Assault and four counts of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child by Manufacturing Child Pornography. He will be required to serve 32 years, 3 months and 19 days before he is eligible for parole.
“The sexual abuse of a child is a heinous criminal act for which there is no justification. This lengthy sentence provides a level of justice for the victims and their families. I want to commend them for their cooperation during trial and their bravery in standing up to this predator,” Gramiccioni said.
Following years of delays as Wolchesky repeatedly filed motions contesting the case, jury selection began on October 13, 2016. At trial, the four boys, now young men, from Florida, Massachusetts, and North Carolina came to New Jersey to testify.
Before and during the trial, Wolchesky advocated against what he viewed as the unfair treatment of pedophiles. Using his Xbox, Wolchesky befriended four boys during 2008 and 2009, and convinced the boys, between the ages of 10-15, to send their naked pictures to him. Wolchesky would ask the boys to masturbate and instructed some of them to penetrate themselves. The Xbox message system only saved the photographs he received from the boys for a certain number of days, so Wolchesky would videotape himself opening the photographs that were messaged to him and saved that video to a computer hard drive. On at least one occasion he engaged in a video chat with a boy and convinced the boy to strip for him.
“Parents must talk to their children about the potential dangers of interacting with strangers on social media and gaming systems. Pay attention to your children’s online activities because a watchful eye is an added layer of defense against child predators,” Gramiccioni added.
Wolchesky, acting as his own attorney, argued he never instructed the boys to penetrate themselves and all the boys consented to the conduct. The self-proclaimed pedophile also argued he was merely acting out of civil disobedience to advance the cause of pedophilia. The jury convicted him of all 21 counts they were asked to consider.
The case was prosecuted Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors William Somers and Margaret Koping. Wolchesky represented himself at trial (pro se) with the assistance of stand-by attorney Michael Kuhns, Esq., of Morristown.
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