Retired Detroit Pension Fund Official In Court On Child Porn Charges
STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) - A Macomb County man who once served as executive secretary for the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System appeared in court Tuesday on child pornography charges.
Wearing a suit and ankle tether, and accompanied by his wife, 70-year-old Walter Stampor agreed to postpone his preliminary examination to give his defense attorney more time to prepare his case.
Last month, special agents served a search warrant on Stampor's Sterling Heights home following an extensive investigation of an online child porn site.
His computer was seized and a forensic review of an external hard drive found what authorities say was "a significant amount" of child pornography.
"Unfortunately, we don't have any discovery at this point," Stampor's attorney, Chris Rickard told reporters Tuesday. "We still don't have any evidence to substantiate the charges. All we have are the charges themselves, so we're still investigating this and will continue to play it out through the justice system."
Rickard said Stampor's family is standing behind him.
"Obviously him and his family...they all understand the charges are very serious, and they're handling it as a family," Rickard said. "And I think that they're a strong unit, but obviously we've got to address the charges that are at hand."
Stampor faces ten counts of possession of child pornography, punishable by up to four years in prison; as well as ten counts of using a computer to commit a crime, a seven-year felony.
As a condition of his bond, Stampor is not allowed unsupervised contact with minors or within 500 feet of a school.
He'll be back in 41A District Court on June 10.
