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SALT LAKE CITY — A doctor charged with viewing child pornography at work says his high bail could keep him from supporting his family. His lawyers argued for reduced bail in court Tuesday morning.
The standard bail in a case like this is around $150,000. Lawyers for Dr. David Wilson wanted it dropped to around $25,000.
The defense pushed for a lower bail on the grounds that Wilson has lost his job at McKay-Dee Hospital Center because of the 15 charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and has no way to support his family.
The 41-year-old says he needs to time to search for a job and he has no criminal history. With bail being set at $150,000, the defense says "it might as well be a million dollars" because he doesn't have that kind of money.
The prosecution felt otherwise saying just because this is the first offense, Wilson shouldn't get special treatment. The state's prosecution says because this is such a public case, if Wilson was able to post bail, he would likely be a flight risk.
When both sides of the arguments wrapped up, Judge Hadley decided to reduce bail to $100,000. According to documents from the emergency hearing held by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing in August, hospital security found hundreds of images they traced back to Wilson's computer.
In a DOPL report, Wilson admitted to the group he "has had a problem with (child porn) for years."
The defense asked for more time to decide their next move. A court appearance to set up a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.
