Former Gonzaga priest and professor sentenced for child porn possession

Rachel DeYoung by Rachel DeYoung

A former Gonzaga University priest and professor was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail for downloading and viewing child pornography.

Gary Uhlenkott, 67, pleaded guilty in February to viewing depictions of minors engaged in sexual explicit conduct in the 2nd degree back in April 2013.

Uhlenkott had been a Jesuit priest for 25 years at the time and was a professor of music at Gonzaga.

According to court documents, in October 2010, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Toronto Police Service started investigating a movie production company in Toronto, ‘Toronto Company’, that was the subject of more than 20 complaints of child pornography.

USPIS accessed the website and reviewed film previews, website movie summaries, and customer ordering information. When they confirmed there were videos of nude minor boys, TPS executed a search warrant at the company’s business and seized hundreds of DVD movies, photo DVDs, computers, and business records, including customer shipping labels and customer order histories.

A United States Postal inspector determined that Uhlenkott repeatedly purchased child erotica and child pornography from the company’s website.

A review of his transactions showed Uhlenkott made 29 separate orders totaling $1,164.40 from the web site between 2008 and 2011. The billing address was Boone Ave. in Spokane and he had provided his Gonzaga email address.

In March of 2013, the United States Department of Justice Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section subpoenaed Century Link for the subscriber information. They contacted Uhlenkott and interviewed him.

Documents say Uhlenkott admitted to receiving/downloading hundreds of child pornographic images of young boys from the Toronto Company, but said he had never made any actual sexual contact with a minor child.

Uhlenkott pleaded guilty to child pornography possession in the 2nd degree. He was removed from his position at Gonzaga and taken to a Jesuit center in Northern California. He is still part of the Jesuit community, but cannot act as a priest in public.

Uhlenkott was sentenced to six months in jail on Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court.

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