Plea agreement made in child molestation

By Matt Pordum

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 10:07 a.m.

A man charged with molesting four juveniles in his mobile home and videotaping the encounters entered a plea agreement on Wednesday that could ultimately put him in prison for life.

David William Ashman, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault with a child under the age of 14, two counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14 and one count of use of a minor in the production of pornography.

Ashman was originally charged with 107 counts in the matter. The charges are based on 13 videotaped incidents with four children ranging in age from 8 to 15.

Under the negotiated plea, Ashman can receive between 35 years to life in prison, which will ultimately be decided by District Judge Donald Mosley on July 29.

As part of the plea agreement, Ashman will also plead guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of receipt of child pornography. For that plea he will serve a five-year prison sentence to run concurrently with the charges he pleaded to before Mosley.

Ashman was arrested in mid-March after a Metro Police informant brought in a videotape showing Ashman molesting a girl, police said.

Authorities allege Ashman repeatedly molested three girls in the past five years at Ashman's home in Henderson.

An unidentified boy under the age of 14 was also a victim, according to the indictment.