PORT ANGELES — A Bremerton man has pleaded not guilty to voyeurism and child pornography charges that stemmed from allegations that he took a lewd cellphone video of a 16-year-old girl at this year’s Sequim Lavender Festival and was found with pornography on his phone.
David William Cummings, 41, faces a Nov. 16 trial on one count of attempted voyeurism at the Lavender Festival Street Fair on July 17 and six counts of possessing depictions, including 83 videos on his cellphone, of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Cummings, who was arrested last Sunday, remained in the Clallam County jail Saturday on $50,000 bond after Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer refused to release him Friday on his own recognizance.
“The nature of the allegations do raise safety concerns,” Rohrer said.
Cummings was silent during the arraignment, mostly staring down at the defense table.
“Are you OK, Mr. Cummings?” Rohrer asked him at the end of the brief hearing.
Cummings shook his head no.
“Just checking,” Rohrer said.
A status hearing was set for 9 a.m. Oct. 30.
Witnesses’ reports
Witnesses at the Street Fair told authorities they saw him take cellphone photos under the girl’s skirt while she waited in line to buy lavender hand sanitizers, according to the probable-cause statement.
A video file extracted from his camera showed images close to the hemline of her skirt and not going underneath it, the statement said.
Witnesses said Cummings appeared to be possibly erasing images on his phone as he was being chased through the Street Fair before being accosted.
Attorney Loren Oakley of Clallam Public Defender, who represented Cummings on Friday, argued that Cummings did not have a history of violent offenses, had not committed offenses between the Street Fair incident and his arrest, and that Cummings’ mother and siblings live in Washington and his wife in Bremerton.
Oakley offered that one condition of Cummings’ release could be that he not leave his home with a camera.
Steven Johnson of the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office argued that bond remain at $50,000.
Cummings’ cellphone contained “many images and videos of the most abhorrent violent offenses that are happening to young children,” Johnson said.
“He also has indicated he was using his phone . . . at the Lavender Festival because he could not help himself.”
Five of the pornography possession charges carry maximum 10-year sentences each, the sixth charge carries a five-year maximum sentence and the attempted voyeurism charge carries a maximum of 364 days in jail.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
