Maryland mayor arrested on child pornography charges

The mayor of a Maryland college town was arrested Thursday morning on dozens of child pornography counts, hours after he resigned from office.

Patrick Wojahn, 47, faces 56 counts of possession and distribution of child porn, the Prince George’s County Police Department said in a statement Thursday morning. Police searched his College Park home Tuesday and seized cell phones as well as a storage device, a tablet and a computer.

County officials said the department started investigating after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified them on Feb. 17 that a social media account had distributed suspected child pornography. Detectives traced the account to Wojahn, authorities said.

Wojahn submitted his resignation after business hours on Wednesday, city officials said in a statement Thursday. He was serving his second term as mayor of College Park, which includes the University of Maryland campus, after winning election in 2015. He previously served eight years as a city councilman.

“Mr. Wojahn resigned his position yesterday and has been cooperating fully with law enforcement,” his attorney, David Moyse, said via email Thursday. “While too early to comment on the allegations, we will continue to cooperate as the process unfolds.”

In his resignation letter, which the city released, Wojahn said he plans to “deal with my own mental health” and asked residents to keep his family in their prayers.

“While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction,” he wrote.

Originally from Wisconsin, Wojahn graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and has worked in legal advocacy and government relations.

The city will hold a special election to choose a new mayor.