Gary Bremer '84 was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal possession of child pornography on Friday. He was arrested last March after police found over 300 pornographic images of children on a laptop computer he pawned at a shop near his New Haven, Conn. home. Bremer, 45, was valedictorian of his class at Dartmouth.
The computer, which Bremer sold to National Pawn in Milford in 2003, contained photographs of children -- some as young as infants -- engaged in sexual intercourse with adults.
"Some of the images were vile and disgusting in every sense of the word," said Connecticut Superior Court Judge John Ronan, who presided over the case. "This is a crime that requires a harsh punishment, not only to punish the offender, but to publicly condemn this activity."
Along with a five-year probation after prison, Ronan prohibited Bremer from contacting minors or using the internet and ordered him to remain on the state's sex offender registry for 10 years.
Illegal possession of child pornography is a felony and is punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence. Bremer argued for a reduced sentence as part of a deal he reached in July when he pleaded guilty to the charge.
"I'm sorry for causing all this trouble. I knew I was bending the law but I didn't realize I was breaking it," Bremer told The Connecticut Post. "I dropped the internet in 2002 and pawned the laptop to get rid of it. I've changed my ways."
Assistant State Attorney General Melanie Cradie argued for the full sentence under the deal -- two and a half years in prison. She stated that she wanted his sentencing to send a message to potential violators that crimes of this nature will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Bremer's lawyer, Richard Altschuler, presented the defense that his client was using the pornographic material for creative purposes -- to write a book. "Artistic purposes " is one of the few accepted defenses for viewing child pornography in Connecticut.
Bremer's attorney also acknowledged that his client has psychological and learning disabilities such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder and dyslexia. According to Altschuler, Bremer also battled alcoholism and drug addiction.
Altschuler said people accused of sexually assaulting children typically serve jail sentences of under one year, if at all. The national average sentence for people convicted of possessing child pornographic images is six months. While Altschuler said he understands the judge's wish to send a message condemning child pornography, he believes that Bremer's punishment was overly harsh, as his client is not a sexual predator.
"He never reached out to any kid. He never crossed the line from fantasy to reality," he said. "He's being punished for other people who look at child porn."
Bremer obtained the images from the internet, but did not purchase or photograph any of them. Although he was a professional video photographer, he never filmed pornography or worked with children.
Altschuler noted that of the 6,000 pornographic images found on Bremer's computer, only 300 were child pornography.
"You don't have to be a Dartmouth graduate to know that's only five percent," he said.
A state-hired specialist who was asked to rate the likelihood of Bremer approaching or attacking a child on a scale of mild to severe rated him as a mild risk, according to Altschuler.
While Bremer may not have intended to harm the victims of child pornography, at least three of the children in the photographs were identified as sexual assault victims by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
