Judge hesitates on 5 to 7 years for man who trafficked in porn involving infants and dogs

LANDER — A Wyoming judge is doubtful whether she will accept a plea deal allowing a five- to seven-year prison sentence for a man accused of trafficking pornography involving infants, toddlers and dogs.

“On its face, this plea agreement gives me pause,” Wyoming District Court Judge Kate McKay said Tuesday in Fremont County District Court in Lander, moments before Wayne Matthew Hatch entered his plea. “no contest” for sending child pornography.

“I find this to be a lenient plea agreement given the circumstances described in the affidavit,” McKay continued. “I want to be very frank about this.”

McKay said she did not have enough information about Hatch before her Tuesday to make final decisions, and said her decision on whether to accept her plea deal and Hatch's sentencing would come later.

The judge urged Hatch and his attorney, Fremont County Public Defender Supervisor Jon Gerard, to discuss whether Hatch still wanted to plead to the charge in light of McKay's hesitation.

Gerard noted that the plea agreement contains a pardon clause, whereby if McKay rejects the terms of the agreement, Hatch can withdraw his no-contest plea. He could then go to court or make a different deal.

Still, Gerard discussed the factors of the case with Hatch in hushed tones, while Hatch nodded intermittently.

Hatch decided to plead his case anyway.

The allegations

According to an affidavit of evidence filed in the case, agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation were alerted via an online tip about possible child pornography on a Kik account they later discovered was associated with Hatch.

The files contained 16 videos of infants and young children being molested, as well as videos of prepubescent women having sex with dogs, the affidavit states. The email address associated with Hatch's phone was also allegedly associated with Cash App transactions that the latter app had flagged as child exploitation material.

Hatch was already on probation for attempting to smuggle methamphetamine into the Fremont County Detention Center in 2022.

Two DCI agents interviewed Hatch on March 19.

Hatch allegedly claimed he was trying to be a “vigilante” and attempting to extort and blackmail sellers of child pornography.

The plea agreement

The plea agreement Hatch signed on May 22 states that in exchange for his no contest plea to the child pornography trafficking charge, the state will drop its two other charges against him – one for child pornography trafficking and one for possession of child pornography.

It states that if he violates his bond between now and sentencing, the state can withdraw its side of the deal and seek a harsher sentence.

It also states that he will serve a prison sentence of five to seven years concurrently or concurrently with another prison sentence. Fremont County Assistant Prosecutor Ember Oakley will now seek conviction of Hatch for bringing methamphetamine into the jail.

He was initially sentenced to probation for that charge, as well as a theft charge for stealing from Walmart. But that sentence was suspended with a potential two-year prison sentence, meaning if he violated his probation he could be sent to prison.

In class

In court Tuesday, Hatch grew agitated. The chains bound around his stomach and both wrists rattled lightly as he waited for McKay to enter at the start of his hearing.

Hatch does not intend to post his $40,000 cash-only bond before his sentencing hearing, Gerard noted.

The terms of Hatch's bond were improved somewhat in his favor, allowing more family contact.

Claire McFarland can be reached at [email protected].