A local chaplain and part-time pastor at a Vancouver church was sentenced Wednesday to 4½ years in prison for possessing child pornography.
Randolph B. Warneke, 66, pleaded guilty last month in Clark County Superior Court to three counts of first-degree possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. As part of a plea deal, two additional counts of possessing child pornography were dismissed.
When Warneke was arrested in September, he was listed as a chaplain, assistant director of operations and board member for the Community Military Appreciation Committee, a civic nonprofit group that holds community events and supports military families. He is no longer on the organization’s website, however. The site also stated that he was an at-large pastor for C3 Church and served as chaplain for Pointman Ministry and Veterans Victory Chapel; chaplain and board member for the Korean War Veterans Association; vice chair and board member for the Clark County Veterans Advisory Board; and a board member for CDM Services. It’s unclear if Warneke is still associated with those organizations.
Deputy Prosecutor Erin Culver said Wednesday that despite Warneke taking responsibility for his actions, he still deserved a high-end sentence of 61 months in prison.
His defense attorney, Steve Rucker, said Warneke wanted to plead guilty from the beginning.
“Mr. Warneke is guilty. He is responsible for it. He is shameful, which is different than being guilty,” he said.
Warneke has dedicated his life to serving his community and country, Rucker said, and should serve no more than 52 months.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Warneke sent an image via email in his Google account July 12, which was identified by Google as child pornography. The image depicted two children, who appeared to be younger than 10, engaged in sexual acts. The company later disabled Warneke’s account.
Google contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the image and provided Warneke’s account information. The tip was sent to the Vancouver Police Department’s Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit, the affidavit said.
Investigators traced the information back to Warneke and his residence, where police served a search warrant. Warneke told police his email account was hacked and denied visiting any websites with child pornography. He saw an image in his account, he said, but denied putting it there and deleted it, court records state.
Warneke later admitted to using his cellphone to view pornography but continued to deny viewing child pornography. Investigators found additional web history that showed he had searched for child pornography, according to court documents.
During his sentencing, Culver said Warneke’s case was different than others she’s seen because his attempts at viewing child pornography were “unsophisticated” and essentially amounted to a Google search.
Judge Gregory Gonzales sentenced Warneke to 54 months in prison and 36 months of community custody. He is not to have contact with minors, must register as a sex offender and undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation and treatment. Warneke was given credit for 184 days in custody.
