
Joseph Gobrick, 45, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. [Photo credit: Michigan Department of Corrections]
A missing child case in 2018 concerning a missing and endangered 17 year old Ohio girl led police to the Grand Rapids residence of Joseph Gobrick where the girl was found.
During the investigation, police confiscated his electronic devices and searched them resulting in the discovery of child pornography which included depictions of the rape of children between the ages of infant and five years old.
During a bench trial, 45 year old Gobrick fired his court appointed attorney and chose to represent himself.
“I’ve always been an eight-year-old girl,” Gobrick claimed. “And even my drawings and fantasies, I am always an eight-year-old girl.”
While incarcerated during the trial, Gobrick continued to draw explicit images of children in his jail cell and allegedly even bragged about it.
“Based on everything he’s said and done, including bragging about what he was drawing in his cell, he obviously doesn’t think child sexually abusive material is wrong,’’ Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Denenfeld said. “This isn’t just virtual stuff; this is also real people being harmed.’’
Gobrick attempted to argue that the images were digital manipulations and as such, protected as free speech by the first amendment.
“I did not have sex with children to create child pornography. We made those ourselves using GIMP, the GNU image manipulating program,’’ he claimed.
Police however, stated that they identified eight victims in the images contained on his computer.
Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Helmer clearly stated that Gobrick posed “a danger to the public … Even during the trial, the defendant continued to draw, talking about raping babies in the Kent County Jail and making other statements about how this is his constitutional right to continue to do so.”
On December 18th, Gobrick was found guilty by Denenfeld and sentenced to 10-20 years in prison for three counts of child sexually abusive material or activity, and one count of computer use to commit a crime.
He was transferred to the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center on December 26th, his 45th birthday for processing before placement in the general population within the prison system. He remains there at this time. His earliest listed release date is June 14, 2028.
Gobrick was previously convicted on a charge in 2001 of sexual abuse in New York.