Lori Wickelhaus, best known for appearing on 16 and Pregnant Season 2, was due to be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 20 counts of “Possessing/viewing matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.” However, it is unknown if the former teen mom ever even made it to her sentencing before she was thrown in jail!
The now-29-year-old was booked into Kentucky’s Campbell County Detention Center on Tuesday just after 10 a.m., one hour after she was due to be sentenced for her child p0rnography crimes. She now faces an additional charge of being in Contempt of Court (Libel/Slander Resistance to [Court] Order.)
A court clerk was unable to confirm to The Ashley what Lori did to get herself thrown behind bars; however, a court clerk told The Sun that Lori “could have missed the court hearing or was disrespectful to a judge.” That charge can also come if someone says or writes something libelous or slanderous about the judge or court before or during a hearing.
As of press time, Lori is currently still in jail, and being held without bond.
After landing herself in the slammer (again), Lori posed for a snazzy new mugshot (pictured at the top of this post). While Tuesday’s mugshot is not exactly a glamour photo, it’s much better than Lori’s original mugshot, which was taken after her arrest in August 2020. That mug showed an unkempt Lori with streaks of makeup down her face and swollen eyes.
Lori’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday comes a little over a month after Lori entered a guilty plea at her May 10 court hearing. She had previously entered a not guilty plea back in September, but changed it.
As The Ashley previously reported, Lori was arrested in August 2020 for possession of child p0rnography. According to the police report from the arrest, the offending material was found on Lori’s iPhone and laptop, with the viewing dates listed as September 23, 2019 and December 18-19, 2019.
According to the report, the county’s police department received a Cybertip from the Kentucky State Police Internet Crimes Against Task Force that was originally submitted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip came in after an unknown person uploaded photos that showed illicit child images to a Dropbox account. From there, a search began in March of Lori’s computers and phone, and she was indicted on August 13 and arrested.
Fans of “16 and Pregnant” will most likely remember Lori’s episode, which was one of the most heartbreaking of the entire series.
During the episode, Lori and her then-boyfriend Corey Haskett struggled with their decision to place their baby boy for adoption. Lori— who was adopted herself— eventually decided on an open adoption and placed her son, Aiden (who was born in December 2009) with his adoptive family at the end of the episode.
Lori remained in Aiden’s life after his adoption. It is unknown, though, if she continued to have contact with him in later years. Aiden will turn 12 in December.
(In case you’re wondering, Corey went on to have more children. He declined to comment on Lori’s case in August 2020 when asked by The Ashley.)
Lori opened up years later about how hard the period of time following Aiden’s adoption was for her.
“[I] fell into a downward spiral,” Lori said in a video filmed in 2012 about Lori’s stay at Q&A Associates, a transitional program for young adults in West Virginia. “I had no dreams, I had no goals, I didn’t care what happened day to day,”
After graduating from the program, Lori met a man named Joey and they became engaged. They went on to welcome daughter Rylynn in 2013 before breaking up. Lori welcomed a son, Logan, in 2014.
The Ashley can confirm that Joey is still active in Rylynn’s life; however, it is unknown where Rylynn and Logan are living currently.
UPDATE! A court clerk confirmed to The Ashley that Lori’s sentencing was continued on Tuesday. She is now scheduled to be sentenced on August 11.
The Ashley will update this story when more information is available…
(Photos: Campbell County Police Department, Facebook, MTV)
18 Responses
I remember her episode being very sad, her parents came off extremely badly and when I was younger I thought they were evil. Now I am old I know that when you are a teenager no one knows you better than your parents and they obviously knew that she would not cope, or if other issues would come up-like csa and they would ether have to step in or social services would have to put the child into foster care, adoption was the right course of action. What she has done is inexcusable, I really hope she is sentenced appropriately and that her children are being protected by their fathers, and remain unharmed.
I feel terrible for her other kids. She’s truly not right in the head.
Her nose always reminded me of a pig. I don’t know why we don’t have laws where people like her automatically get a dirt nap.
I am so curious what the hell the deal is with this case. They said they were uploaded, right? So did she create the CP with her own kids or other kids? I too tend to think it must have been some boyfriend or something who roped her into participating in this, you almost never hear of young women just possessing on their own. Yet wouldn’t we hear about the charge on the guy if that were the case? Please let us know what the deal is as soon as more info is available.
I can’t shake this story from my mind. Her episode really was tragic, and I felt so sorry for her. It was nice to think that her life was on the up a few years ago. What the hell brought this on? Was she always like this? Did she get roped in on some sicko’s crimes? There are so many questions I have. I hope we get answers. Most importantly, I hope her children are safe and have never been harmed as a result of this.
I remember her episode. I still can’t understand how you would adopt a child and then force your adopted child to place their child.
They were odd Holy Joes though
A theory I’ve read is that Lori was mentally incapable to raise children. We see that manifested now.
It wasn’t just “mom and dad being mean”, it was the responsible decision, I mean, putting her on semi permanent birth control would have been responsible as well..
I’ve never heard that she was mentally incapable of taking care of her kid(s), but that makes complete sense to me. Honestly, I always thought she physically looked like she suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, or has some sort of developmental problems. Either way what she’s done is dispicable and inexcusable.
FAS is one I’ve heard, yeah. Developmental problems would probably be the best description, yes.
Not sure how to word this nicely, but she seemed slow on her episode. She definitely didn’t understand the gravity of having a baby and seeing her update where she talked about having a puppy really drove that home.
No she definitely doesn’t get a pass for the CP. I’m just not sure what lesson prison time will teach her. Idk. She needs serious help. Not just for the CP but for everything.
Bc they obviously believe in adoption and bc she clearly couldn’t care for the baby.
Thank God too! This creep has definitely either abused her own children or allowed them to be abused. She’s a pedo. They’re opportunistic
Her mother and my mother were both cut from the same brutal Catholic cloth.
Because they knew THEY couldn’t take care of a newborn and also knew SHE didn’t have the mental capacity to raise a child. And they were obviously right.
I mean, can you have a good mugshot with the charges shes facing?
It doesn’t seem like a thing. They’re all gonna be bad.
it’s so sad, I remember her story, and it was heartbreaking, what happened to her? Was she set up with the child porn? This is the first I’ve heard of it. What was her side of the story? Most of the girls on all these shows end up to be so troubled, why leave this trash on??? It seems to only do harm!
She pled guilty.
I knew she pled guilty, but that type of crime is extremely rare for a female her age, so I was wondering if she ever addressed what her issues are?
It’s rare for females in general yes but it still happens. It doesn’t mean she was set up though. She’s 29. What’s unusual about that?
Her story was very sad. Her parents should have been much more supportive than they were and certainly should have helped her through that painful transition they forced her into. That being said, she doesn’t get a “pass” to download or engage in any form of child p0rnography. She very clearly needs to face her demons and seek mental health…and she can do that behind bars serving time for her crime.