New Berlin man faces 30-70 years in prison for child pornography

By Benjamin Cox on March 7, 2019 at 10:55am

The New Berlin man accused of possession of child pornography in Macon County had a pre-trial conference Wednesday behind closed doors.

57 year old Scott Gentry was advised of his rights under Supreme Court Rule 402(d), a rule that allows for what is called a “402 conference”. This provides the prosecution, defense counsel, and presiding judge time to privately discuss details and matters of the specific case.

Gentry is officially charged with 10 counts of possession of pornography depicting child victims under the age of 13. If found guilty of all ten counts, he faces 30 to 70 years in prison.

According to a report this morning in the State Journal-Register, the “402 conference” was held with presiding Judge Thomas E. Griffith, lead prosecutor on file and Macon County Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Kurtz, and Gentry’s defense attorney Christopher Amero.

A well-established reason to hold a “402 conference” is to reach a settled agreement of punishment for the defendant between all parties so that a trial would then not be necessary.

Gentry officially pleaded not guilty on February 1st. An open pre-trial session has now been set for April 8th at 9 am. Attorney Amero also filed a motion to reduce bond Wednesday.