Former Gonzaga priest sentenced to six months in child pornography case

Former Gonzaga University priest and music professor Gary Uhlenkott was sentenced to six months in jail Wednesday for viewing child pornography.

The 67-year-old pleaded guilty in Spokane Superior Court in February to a second-degree charge of viewing minors engaged in sexual explicit conduct.

In 2013, federal agents seized dozens of DVDs and other videos his Gonzaga University office and apartment as part of an ongoing child pornography investigation.

According to court records, Uhlenkott’s credit card was used to spend $1,654 on 29 purchases between Dec. 26, 2008, and Jan. 15, 2011, from a Toronto film company that was raided in 2010 under a joint investigation by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies.

All the purchases were either mailed to 502 E. Boone Ave., which is the general Spokane mailing address for Gonzaga University, or a link for digital download of the product was sent to Uhlenkott’s university-issued email address.