Child Porn Charges Dropped Against Wenatchee Area Chiropractor

A Wenatchee Valley chiropractor will not go to trial for  possession of child pornography after charges were dropped Monday in Chelan County. 

Sheriff's deputies arrested 63-year-old Wayne Mark Latimer of East Wenatchee in June of last year when he was accused of collecting explicit images of children through his Facebook account. 

He was scheduled for trial next month, but prosecutor's admitted there was no evidence the images were on any of Latimer's electronic devices. 

Latimer's attorney, Brandon Redal, called his arrest haphazard and the investigation reckless, saying it'll effect his reputation forever. 

Latimer runs Latimer Chiropractic on North Wenatchee Avenue in Wenatchee. 

Redal said the previous prosecutor had held onto exonerating evidence for 10 month and needed to be held accountable. 

The charges were first filed in June 0f 2022 by former Chelan County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Julia Hartnell, who is now a deputy prosecutor in Snohomish County. 

The order to dismiss the case was brought by another Chelan County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Chad Jenks.  

Jenks wrote in the order that none of the 26 images in question (nine total different images with 17 duplicates) were located on any of Latimer’s devices. 

Jenks stated the state was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charges filed in the case. He wrote that there is currently no evidence any of the 26 files were on any of Latimer’s devices, nor is there evidence they were downloaded from an IP address to which Latimer had access. 

Police were alerted by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force - a law enforcement network that tracks reports of digital child pornography - that Latimer had allegedly downloaded explicit photos of children through Facebook. 

Latimer had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Chelan County Superior Court Judge Travis Brandt approved the dismissal of the case Monday.