U.S. v. Sprenger

Record failed to support defendant’s guilty plea to charge of production of child pornography. While images involving minor victim showed that defendant himself was engaging in sexually explicit conduct, said images did not constitute child pornography, since images did not show minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct herself. As such, defendant was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea as to said charge. However, record did support defendant’s plea with respect to charge of possession of child pornography, where defendant’s conviction on said charge was based primarily on his possession of videos and images that he did not create, and where defendant’s counsel conceded existence of factual basis for said charge. Moreover, Ct. rejected defendant’s claim that his entire plea agreement was invalid given parties’ mutual mistake regarding nature of production of child production charge, where instant production of child pornography and possession of child pornography charges were not interdependent.