WEST OCEAN CITY — A West Ocean City resident and business owner, arrested in December for sexual solicitation of a minor, was formally indicted in U.S. District Court last week and now faces as much as life in prison.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland announced on Monday a federal grand jury has indicted David Edward Weatherholtz, 55, of Berlin, on charges of producing and possessing child pornography and attempting to entice minors to engage in sex. The federal grand jury indictment was returned last Tuesday and was unsealed on Monday following the defendant’s arrest.
According to the six-count indictment, from 2008 to 2012, Weatherholtz, owner of the O.C. Jamboree in West Ocean City and also a music instructor, coerced a minor to engage in sex to produce images of child pornography. The indictment further alleges from Dec. 3-16, 2014, Weatherholtz allegedly used electronic mail and text messaging to attempt to coerce minors to engage in sex. Weatherholtz was found in possession of a computer hard drive and laptop containing child pornography.
Weatherholtz now faces life in prison with a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years for attempted enticement. He also faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years followed by a lifetime of supervised release for each of the three counts of producing child pornography and 10 years in prison for each of the two counts of possession of child pornography. An initial appearance was held on Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Weatherholtz has ordered to be detained pending a detention hearing set for Friday morning.
On Dec. 3, 2014, Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) detectives began an investigation into a suspected online child solicitation case in West Ocean City. WCBI detectives made contact with a suspect, later identified Weatherholtz. During the investigation, WCBI detectives identified themselves as a 13-year-old juvenile male. Over the course of the next two weeks, Weatherholtz allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations and made numerous references to other sexual encounters he had with underage boys. Weatherholtz made arrangements to meet the alleged juvenile and was taken into custody by WCBI detectives.
Following the arrest in December, another alleged victim came forward in January with information about an alleged incident several years ago. The victim told detectives when he was a juvenile several years ago, Weatherholtz brought him to his West Ocean City home under the guise of giving him music lessons and ordered him to perform certain sexual acts. Weatherholtz was charged additionally with sex abuse of a minor, second-degree assault, perverted practice, fourth-degree sex offense, sodomy and false imprisonment.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Acting Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Worcester County Sheriff Reggie T. Mason, Sr.; and Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The effort marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.