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March 23, 2007
Child pornography conviction
State Attorney Steve Meadows announces the conviction, in Bay County Circuit
Court, of Claude A. Chandler on 60 counts of possession of child
pornography.
After a day-and-a-half trial, the five females, one male jury deliberated 47
minutes before finding Chandler guilty as charged on each count. Chandler,
48, formerly of College Avenue in Panama City, possessed a laptop computer
and two compact discs which contained explicit photographs of children in
sexual situations. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office seized the items in 2004
and obtained a warrant for Chandler’s arrest. He was located, in February,
2006, in Las Vegas, and returned to Bay County.
Assistant State Attorney Rob Sale told the jury that, “the defendant turned
out to be a stranger to his wife and his two children.”
Sentencing is set for May 15, 2007. Chandler faces a maximum of 300 years
prison. Florida law requires that an inmate serve at least 85 per cent of
his sentence.
In a similar Bay County case, George Thrasher was sentenced to 360 years
prison, in 2004, for possession of multiple images of child pornography.
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