A former Maryland mayor was arrested Thursday morning—hours after he resigned the night prior—on child pornography charges. Patrick Wojahn was elected mayor of College Park, a small town where the University of Maryland is located, in 2015; prior to that, he'd served on the city council for eight years. The Prince George's County Police Department says the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a tip last month regarding a social media account that had had child porn uploaded to it in January, and authorities linked it to Wojahn, NBC 4 Washington reports.
The 47-year-old Democrat is charged with 40 counts of possession of child exploitative material and 16 counts of distribution of child exploitative material, USA Today reports. Cell phones, a storage device, and a tablet were seized from his home when a search warrant was executed prior to his arrest. In his after-hours Wednesday night resignation letter, Wojahn said, "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. I am stepping away to deal with my own mental health." The city says it is "shocked and disturbed" at the news, which comes as "a total surprise." A special election will be held to replace Wojahn; until then, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell has taken over his duties. (More Maryland stories.)
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