Judge admonishes child pornography offender

District Judge Michael Gibbons admonished a 54-year-old Gardnerville machinist to end his sexual relationship with the mother of a 7-year-old girl he once faced charges of molesting.

Gibbons ordered John Michael Parks to end his relationship with the woman, which was in violation of his probation for possession of child pornography.

The woman appeared in court Monday to ask the judge to allow Parks to continue to see her.

He is on three years probation for a charge of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a person under 16.

Parks was arrested Nov. 30, 2007, when police found 300 sexually explicit images of children, some as young as 12 months old, at his residence.

Originally, he was charged with two counts of lewdness with a child under age 14 and three counts of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of persons under age 16.

Conviction could have meant life in prison.

At the time of his arrest, Parks was accused of inappropriately touching a girl from January 2006 until Feb. 15, 2007 when the child was 4.

The lewdness charge was dropped because prosecutors said the alleged victim was unreliable as a witness and there would be a better chance for a conviction on the pornography charge.

At his sentencing last August, Gibbons said Parks could not have any contact with the child or initiate contact with the mother.

Parks said Monday he contacted the girl's mother to find out why she didn't come to his sentencing as promised.

The woman said Monday she was being pressured by attorneys on both sides and was afraid she would lose custody of her daughter.

"This is all I have, my child. I am all she has," the woman said. "I would have told you my bonds and my feelings for Mr. Parks are very, very strong."

The woman said she had "no clue" Parks had a collection of child pornography.

Parks told the judge the woman initiated the contact, but it was mutual.

A few months after he was sentenced, Parks said she contacted him because her car was stuck in the snow in the Pine Nut Mountains.

"I wanted to help her," he said. "No one else was helping with her."

Parks said they met several times outside the presence of the child.

"I have had no contact with her daughter," Parks said.

The woman said she wanted to be able to see Parks and participate in his counseling.

"These two years have been salvation for me," Parks told the judge. "I have worked extremely hard to keep up with the things you asked me to do. I have gotten rid of all the illegal things. My life is like an hourglass over bad sand and all the bad is drained out. I have a little bit left to go to be completely healthy in that regard."

Probation officer Wendy Maxwell said she was concerned Parks was grooming the little girl's mother so he could see the child.

Parks denied the allegation.

"I am not grooming her. I just wanted to do good for her. I have no desire to see the child," he said.

Gibbons told Parks he couldn't afford to have any probation violations.

"You were not sentenced for having contact with the child. You would be in prison already. Count yourself extremely lucky," Gibbons said.

Parks remained on probation, and said he had stepped up counseling to once a week and a weekly group session.

"Just keep in mind your contact with her (the mother) has to be arranged through the probation department. Carrying on like you're two adults with a normal relationship, that can't happen," Gibbons said.

Maxwell said Parks had been engaging in deviant behavior that wasn't illegal, but was unhealthy.

"You must stay away from children or not have any fantasies about children either," Gibbons said.

"I've already done that," Parks said.

Parks' lawyer, Ron Cauley, said the relationship between Parks and the mother was a "normal adult relationship" beneficial to both participants.

"The child wasn't even a victim to what he pled," Cauley said. "Those charges were dismissed. I think he's done the best he can."

Parks completed 100 hours of community service at a thrift shop as part of his probation and paid court-ordered fees.

Parks faces up to three years in prison if his probation is revoked.