A man arrested after attempting to develop naked pictures of a 6-year-old girl in sexual poses is defending himself by calling the child pornography art.
William Wolfe told authorities he was taking the pictures to "document her prepubescent body parts so when she was an adult she would know what her body looked like," according to his charging papers.
Detectives on the case claim Wolfe touched the girl sexually and that he admitted to taking pictures of her on several occasions, reports the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Wolfe was confronted by police after he was reported by a photo technician at a local pharmacy who felt the photographs being developed were suspicious, the newspaper reports. The pictures were dropped off at the pharmacy under a fake name.
The accused man told police when he was confronted that his pictures were pieces of art.
"While (Wolfe) purports to have been taking artistic images of this little girl ... (detectives) revealed the true motivations behind the defendant's sexually posed and lascivious images," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Gregson told the court.
Police were able to identify the victim after examining the pictures and recognizing several of the landmarks in the background, including an elementary school, reports Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Wolfe was charged with first-degree child molestation, second-degree possession of child pornography and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a state offense similar to production of child pornography.
If convicted on these charges he faces 12 to 16 and a half years in prison. When the case goes to trial he could be convicted on federal charges for producing child pornography, which would carry a mandatory 15-year sentence for producing child pornography, which would carry a mandatory 15-year sentence.
