— By Jim Bissett, DominionPost.com
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Chadwick D. Alt thought he was talking to a 12-year-old girl online last year when he suggested a sexual encounter and sent a lewd photograph of himself.
It was an undercover officer in Ohio instead.
Alt was sentenced to three years’ probation on Wednesday, and Monongalia County Circuit Judge Phillip Gaujot ordered him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Gaujot suspending his earlier ruling, which would have been put Alt behind bars.
Gaujot originally sentenced the man to two-to-10 years in prison for the solicitation charge and five years for sending obscene material via a computer. Those are the maximum sentences for the respective crimes.
Alt’s attorney Thomas Kroger requested probation and home confinement, saying his client was genuinely remorseful for his actions — while also suffering from diabetes, clinical depression and other emotional and physical health issues, which had manifested long before he went online.
Therapist Jack Torsney, who has been counseling the 35-year-old former WVU employee, testified that Alt has likely been suffering from depression “most of his life.” He claimed Alt was at low-risk for becoming a repeat offender.
Kroger asked for leniency, given there was no actual victim in the incident that led to his arrest.
Monongalia County assistant prosecutor Stephen Fitz countered by saying victim or no — the intent was still there.
“It doesn’t diminish the significance of your actions,” the judge said.
Alt, an information technology specialist who had been employed by WVU Research Corp., was emotional when he addressed Guajot.
“I’m sorry for what I did,” he said. “It ruined my life.”