No. 9 Grammer porn charge : Former police detective sentenced for child porn
Posted on Thursday, December 25, 2008
FILE Former Fayetteville police Detective Jeremy Grammer, left, walks with family Monday, Feb. 11 as he walks into the federal courthouse to plead guilty to child pornography charges in Fayetteville.
It's been nearly five months since former Fayetteville police Detective Jeremy Grammer was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for viewing and distributing child pornography.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the 32-year-old is currently being held in the Federal Medical Center: an all-male administrative facility in Lexington, Ky. His projected release date is set for Oct. 6, 2021, with no possibility for parole.
Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such as the detention of pretrial offenders; the treatment of inmates with serious or chronic medical problems; or the containment of extremely dangerous, violent or escape-prone inmates. They are capable of holding inmates in all security categories.
Grammer entered a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of distributing child pornography by computer across state and international lines on Feb. 14. Two additional charges of receiving child pornography transported by computer across state and international lines were dropped as part of a plea bargain.
"I'm not here to make an excuse for what I did," Grammer testified in a July 31 article published by the Northwest Arkansas Times. "I got sucked in and took something entirely too far. I was wrong."
Grammer's name surfaced during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation of child pornography in Ohio.
Fayetteville police conducted an internal investigation, confirming him as a suspect. During a search of his home, investigators discovered computer images of nude girls younger than 12 in various sexual positions and sexual acts.
"He was a good officer, a well-liked officer. It was like someone stabbing you in the back when it happened," Fayetteville Chief of Police Greg Tabor said.
Grammer was terminated from the department on April 26, 2007.
According to case reports, the former detective admitted to federal agents that he had received and sent pornographic images of children from his personal computer to an individual in Ohio.
"We have a saying around here that you never say never about anything, and that really reinforced that," Tabor said.
Grammer was indicted in August and placed on house arrest. He was later transported to the Washington County Detention Center, where he was placed in solitary confinement for five months due to his status as a former police officer and the nature of his charges.
Grammer's attorneys asked District Judge Larry Hendren for a five-year sentence so Grammer could return to his wife and two daughters. They argued that Grammer would face more danger than other inmates because of his status as a former police officer and convicted child pornographer. The defense further requested that Grammer be placed in a federal prison under an alias name.
"Sometimes very good people will do very bad things," defense attorney W.H. Taylor said during Grammer's July 31 sentencing. "I think that's what we have before us today. If you look at his life and you have a big white canvas, this is like a small black speck."
Other reasons the defense requested a minimum sentence included Grammer's exemplary behavior in the past through his volunteer work with Special Olympics and the American Red Cross, as well as his performance at the Fayetteville Police Department.
He was hired in 1998. During his nine years there, he worked as a patrol officer, K-9 officer and detective. He was also awarded for exceptional duty in 2004 and 2005.
U.S. prosecuting attorney Kyra Jenner disputed Grammer's job status as a basis for determining his sentence, saying sex offenders come from all walks of life.
"There are 1,118 former police officers currently serving in federal prison," she said during the hearing. "Of those, 132 are there for sex offenses similar to those of Jeremy Grammer. They all receive the same level of protection."
Clinical psychologist Richard Back testified to conducting a mental evaluation on Grammer after his arrest.
He performed a series of clinical tests and interviewed the defendant and several family members. He said the tests revealed Grammer as a normal, well-rounded, heterosexual man with no pedophile-like tendencies.
Back identified job-related stress and sleep deprivation as possible factors related to Grammer's actions. He further described Grammer's initial interest in viewing child pornography as research for his job as a detective.
Fayetteville police Capt. Mike Reynolds, who served as Grammer's supervisor at the department, testified Grammer was not assigned to the department's special investigations division, which investigates child pornography. He also said investigators are not permitted to conduct their own investigations without permission from a supervisor, nor are they allowed to conduct such research outside the department.
Jenner said no notes documenting such research were ever discovered at Grammer's residence. Additionally, she said Grammer never reported the images of child abuse when he discovered them. Instead, he forwarded them to someone in Ohio.
"I feel devastated," Grammer said prior to learning his sentence. "More importantly, it's devastated my friends and family. I've lost trust with everyone I've ever had. I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it right, but I'll spend the rest of my life trying to get their trust back."
Before making his ruling, Hendren heard testimony from about 10 of Grammer's close friends and family members, who expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations against the former detective.
In addition to a 15-year prison sentence, Hendren ordered that Grammer reside within the general inmate population and pay a fine of $20,000.
After his release he will remain under supervision for the rest of his life. He was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors except for his children, to have no Internet connection in his home and no Internet access without permission from the federal probation office.
Grammer also has to register as a sex offender, can't have a gun and must enter counseling and sex offender treatment.
"It must be said that the violation of children is a heinous and despicable crime," Hendren said just before giving Grammer his sentence.
"I question whether there would be that much of it if there were not a market. (Grammer) should have, and I think he did, know better. We all err, but there's a difference between erring and committing a crime."
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