The former mayor of College Park woke up in jail Friday morning, and faces a bond hearing on Monday to see if he'll need to stay there after being charged with possession and distribution of child sex abuse material.
A stunned College Park community is now attempting to pick up the pieces, with the city's Board of Elections supervisors voting on Friday to set a special election date for the next mayor.
That election will take place Saturday, May 6, with early voting opening on May 2.
By charter, the special election has to take place within 65 days. Until then, "Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell will serve as presiding officer" of the city, College Park said in a Thursday morning news release.
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Patrick Wojahn, 47, resigned from his position as mayor on Wednesday night before his arrest on Thursday morning.
He was "charged with 40 counts of possession of child exploitative material and 16 counts of distribution of child exploitative material," police said, after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified police of a suspicious social media account operating in the county on Feb. 17.
"The image and videos," which the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children believed to be child sex abuse material, "had been uploaded to the social media account in January of 2023," the release said. "Through various investigative techniques, PGPD investigators discovered the social media account belonged to Wojahn."
According to charging documents, Wojahn admitted that the Kik social media account with the username @skippy_md belonged to him. Those documents also said he admitted that he had viewed and possessed child pornography.
News4 has reached out to Wojahn's attorney for comment.
Residents of College Park are stunned by the development.
"I'm heartbroken, absolutely stunned and in shock," said Kathy Bryant, who live in College Park and has known Wojahn for years. She had just been at a party in his home weeks ago.
"Nobody loved College Park more than Patrick Wojahn. Nobody," said Bryant. "He was so fervent, he was at every single event. He was a cheerleader for College Park, promoted College Park everywhere he went."
She says his resignation leaves a huge void in the city.
"I think it's horrible," one student in the city said on Friday. "I think there's not much really to say about it. It's really horrible, and it's really embarrassing as a city to have that for our government and leadership."
The City of College Park posted a link to Wojahn's resignation letter on the same webpage as their official release.
"While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction," Wojahn said in the letter, dated March 2.
Wojahn's bond hearing was set for Friday afternoon, but has been bumped to Monday. Wojahn is being held without bail.
