The mayor of College Park, Maryland, who is openly homosexual, has been arrested on 56 child pornography-related offenses.
Patrick Wojahn, 47, once bragged about his mentor-mentee connection with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is also homosexual and had served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
“I actually met Mayor Pete Buttigieg shortly after I was elected mayor in 2015,” Wojahn said in a 2019 interview with the Washington Blade, an LGBT outlet. “I went to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Winter Meeting in D.C. in January and he was assigned to be my buddy.”
During the Obama administration, Wojahn attended a White House luncheon where his partner met Buttigieg’s.
With reference to his connection with Buttigieg, he stated that his standing within the conference of mayors was enhanced “in part due to his mentorship.”
Decades ago, Wojahn and his husband rose to political prominence in the LGBTQ-activism scene when the same-sex couple was named plaintiffs in the ACLU's 2004 lawsuit seeking to overturn a ban on gay marriage in Maryland. pic.twitter.com/Txd0RMaakZ
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) March 2, 2023
According to a press release from the Prince George’s County Police Department, Wojahn was arrested and charged with 40 counts of possession of child exploitation material and 16 counts of distribution of child exploitation material on Thursday.
Detectives arrested and charged 47-year-old Patrick Wojahn with 56 counts of possession & distribution of child pornography. https://t.co/Dn9H1kzkh9 pic.twitter.com/TlspmoUmyl
— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) March 2, 2023
According to the announcement, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted the department on February 17 that a Prince George’s County social media account was suspected of possessing and disseminating child pornography.
According to the announcement, the content was posted in January, and upon inquiry, authorities discovered that the account belonged to the mayor of College Park.
Tuesday, a search warrant led to the recovery of many cellphones and other technological equipment. Thursday police apprehended Wojahn.
He has since resigned as mayor, according to WJLA-TV. The city confirmed the resignation in a statement Thursday.
“Last night, after business hours, Mayor Patrick L. Wojahn submitted his letter of resignation as Mayor of the City of College Park, effective immediately on March 2,” the statement said. “Mayor Wojahn has served in this position since 2015 and on Council since 2007. The City of College Park thanks Mayor Wojahn for his many years of dedicated service.”
In his letter, Wojahn stated, “It has been a tremendous pleasure and joy to serve the City of College Park as a City Councilman and your Mayor since 2007. Therefore, I must quit my post immediately.
“On February 28, 2023, a search warrant was executed on my residence as part of an ongoing police investigation. I have cooperated fully, and will continue to cooperate, with law enforcement.”
He added, “Many of you have already reached out with well wishes and thoughts, and I am eternally grateful. I am stepping away to deal with my own mental health. I ask that you continue to keep me and my family in your prayers.”
Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said his department wants to “send a clear message to anyone involved in this type of material that units like this are looking, they’re working every day to make sure that we have a safe county and a safe state.”
College Park resident Drake Allen said he wants the next mayor to be “just a regular mayor who does his job,” according to WTOP-TV.
“I don’t know if this is going to wake anybody up. It should, but it probably won’t,” Allen said.
Michael Weaver, a local resident, described the news as “kind of embarrassing. It’s terrible.”