A former Wood County man will spend eight years in prison after a child pornography
conviction.Thomas Folk, 52, formerly of Weston and currently of the Elyria area, was sentenced Monday in the
court of Wood County Judge Reeve Kelsey.Folk was convicted Oct. 16 on four counts of illegal use of a minor
in nudity-oriented material or performance, and one count of possession of criminal tools. The charges
stemmed from pornographic images of children which were reportedly found on Folk’s cell phone and computer
in August of 2011.He was found guilty following a day-long court trial before Kelsey. As opposed to a jury
trial, a court trial is presented only to the judge, without a jury, and the judge renders the
verdict.Folk’s attorney, Christopher Zografides, had argued during the trial that others had access to both
the phone and computer and could have put the images there, and said in court on Thursday that Folk’s
ex-wife had "an ax to grind." He had made a similar argument during the trial.Prosecuting Attorney
Heather Baker said "this case has nothing to do with his ex-wife grinding an ax," adding "Mr.
Folk has a prior conviction for very similar offenses."Folk had previously been convicted on two felony
counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor in April of 2005 and was sent to
prison.Kelsey sentenced Folk to eight years for each of the illegal use of a minor counts, and one year for
the criminal tools count, but ordered that the sentences be served concurrently, making an aggregate of
eight years in prison.In addition, Folk must register as a Tier II sex offender, and pay a $7,500 fine. He
must additionally forfeit the laptop computer used in the crime.Folk was remanded into custody following the
proceeding.