Repeat Arizona sex offender faces 100 years in prison after conviction
Sep 16, 2019, 6:30 PM
(Arizona Attorney General's Office Photo)
PHOENIX – An Arizona registered sex offender faces the prospect of spending the rest of his days behind bars after being convicted of multiple internet sex crimes, authorities said Monday.
A Tucson jury found Patrick Michael Winkler, 44, guilty on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of luring a minor for sexual exploitation, three counts of unlawful age misrepresentation and one count of failure to register as a sex offender, according to an Arizona Attorney General’s Office press release.
Winkler is facing a mandatory sentence of at least 100 years in prison, the release said. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12.
He already has served 15 years for child molestation. He was released on community supervision in March 2017.
According to the release, a year later his parole officer found “concerning conversations” and images of underage girls in one of Winkler’s online accounts.
The parole officer reported what he’d found to the Tucson Police Department, which launched an investigation.
Detective found child pornography that had been downloaded to Winkler’s cellphone after he was released from prison.
They also found he’d been using an app called Whisper without disclosing it, which violated his registered sex offender requirements. According to the release, he attempted to lure minors on the app while lying about his age.
Online exploitation of children can be reported to local police departments or through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline.