A five-year prison term followed by lifetime probation and mandatory sex offender registration awaits the former owner of a tactical training company when he is sentenced next month on two felonies connected to child pornography.
Darren Kendall Wilburn entered guilty pleas during a Feb. 26 settlement conference conducted in hopes of resolving the case without need for a trial. He will be sentenced April 24 by Judge Laura Cardinal of the Cochise County Superior Court.
The two charges Wilburn, 55, pleaded guilty to involve attempted sexual exploitation of a minor underage 15. Records from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office show he remains out of custody on bond while awaiting sentence, even though the plea agreement accepted by Judge Pro Tempore Terry Bannon calls for Wilburn to be jailed unless the judge consented to continuing bond.
Among the standard terms of the plea deal is another provision that Wilbur must serve at least 85 percent of his five-year prison sentence for one of the counts before being released to probation. If Wilburn violates probation he could be resentenced on the second felony count to a prison term of 5 to 15 years.
Wilburn must also register as a sex offender anywhere he lives; failure to do so can result in additional criminal charges.
Court documents show Wilburn came under investigation by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) in February 2019 after Microsoft made a cybertip about possible child pornography being shared on one of its products. The tip went to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which serves as a clearinghouse for reports of child pornography.
NCMEC then notified Arizona law enforcement officials before the tip was assigned to CCSO Det. Todd Borquez. At the time, Borquez was investigating one sole image of child pornography.
The Internet Protocol (IP) address used to transmit the image was tracked to an address where Wilburn lived between Bisbee and Naco. The home was placed under physical surveillance due to officer safety concerns based on the fact Wilburn worked as a tactical training specialist and firearms instructor.
When deputies arrested Wilburn on March 6, 2019 they found him in possession of a computer thumb drive containing more than 50 images of child pornography. The arrest was done without incident, according to Borquez’s report.
Wilburn has been represented by Ivan Abrams, a privately retained attorney from Tucson. However, Wilburn was unable to afford a defense expert to review the evidence collected in the case.
As a result, Abrams had to receive approval from Cardinal for more than $12,000 to cover the expert’s fee.
