Judge says Pennsylvania inmate's decades in solitary to end

Pennsylvania Daybook

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former photographer for a Philadelphia radio station's popular children's program has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after he admitted to child pornography charges. Mark Wilkens had been arrested in November on charges of manufacturing and attempting to manufacture child pornography. The 50-year-old Wilkens was found with cocaine and two Hello Kitty girls' socks in his pockets. Wilkens was a longtime volunteer photographer for radio station WXPN-FM's award-winning Kids Corner program. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/2cTrRNb ) he was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty in March. Wilkens has said he took dozens of explicit pictures of girls between 3- and 10-years-old while shooting photos for children's events at the Franklin Institute, Morris Arboretum and the Camden Children's Garden between August 2010 and July 2015. ___ Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com

Ex-children's program photographer sentenced for child porn