Man Waives Prelim Exam in Child Porn Case

A St. Clair Shores man facing charges of possessing and distributing child pornography waived his preliminary examination Friday and now will stand trial at Macomb County Circuit Court.

John Budzynowski, 50, was arrested at his place of work and on March 18 in front of 40th District Court Magistrate Mark Metry, where he pleaded not guilty to various charges, including one count of possession of child pornography, a four-year felony, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of distributing child pornography, both seven-year felonies.

Budzynowski is accused of going to Internet chat rooms that are known to play host to pedophiles where he allegedly traded child pornography.

Local police were alerted to Budzynowski’s alleged online activities by Homeland Security in November 2010. Police say that Homeland Security traced a number of images of child pornography to his computer and also found he had been involved in sexually explicit chats about young females in online conversations with adults.

At the time of his arraignment, Budzynowski was ordered to stay away from anyone under the age of 15 and refrain from using a computer.

Visiting Judge M. John Shamo lifted the complete computer ban on Budzynowski, allowing him to use a public computer, like at a public library, after arguments from his attorney, Steve Kaplan.

Shamo set Budzynowski’s next court appearance in circuit court for 1:30 p.m. on April 4. He is currently free on $35,000 bond.

If convicted, he would become a registered sex offender.