EVANSTON — An Evanston man facing 15 felony charges related to child pornography, was in court Friday before Circuit Court Judge Michael Greer. A former city council candidate, 33-year-old Maurizio Mariotti, represented by public defender Dean Stout, waived his right to the hearing minutes before it was scheduled to begin.

Instead, Stout argued for a bond reduction for Mariotti in hopes the defendant could afford to be released before trial. Greer had previously set bail at $100,000 cash only on Tuesday, Oct. 30, the same day Mariotti was arrested.

Stout said Mariotti was honorably discharged from the military, has lived in Evanston since 2005, and has been employed by the same company here for 13 years. Mariotti also owns a home in Evanston and has many ties to the community, Stout said. He also said the felonies for which his client is charged are not violent crimes.

Stout said a previous accusation that Mariotti had explosive devices at his home didn’t check out, though Uinta County Atorney Loretta Howieson said after the hearing that Mariotti had said on the record that he is a collector of explosives and ammunitions.

Judge Greer said he hadn’t considered those accusations when originally setting bail because they were “fuzzy,” and he didn’t consider them Friday.

Stout said Mariotti has fully complied with a protective order that’s been in place for some time, and all the guns have been removed from his client’s home. Stout asked Greer to lower Mariotti’s bond to $20,000, cash or surety.

Howieson said that, first of all, she disagrees that the allegations against Mariotti are not crimes of violence, saying the defendant created and possessed evidence of abusing and manipulating children. She said each of the five videos depicting child pornography that Mariotti is alleged to have made contain multiple instances of violence, including choking and other acts.

Howieson also said she’s concerned about previous statements Mariotti allegedly made to others that he would leave the area and that he has the money to do so, making him a flight risk.

Howieson told Greer that of the more than 20,000 images found in Mariotti’s possession, more than 2,000 of them could have potentially been used as evidence for far more than the 15 charges Mariotti is facing.

Referencing Rule 46.1 in the Rules of Criminal Procedure, Greer said Mariotti has a number of things in his favor, such as a job, home ownership and ties to the community. However, Greer said, the crimes Mariotti is accused of committing aren’t low-level property crimes, they’re “certainly crimes against persons.”

Greer said he must consider the danger to others should Mariotti be released, and the judge indicated that’s what concerns him the most. He said he could lower the bail and impose rules that Mariotti not use the internet, but there’s no way for Greer to police that. And, since Mariotti waived his right to a preliminary hearing, the case will be bound over to Third District Court, where Judge Joseph Bluemel will preside over the case.

“I’m not inclined to make a decision that the district court judge has to live with,” Greer said, adding that if the district court judge disagrees with Greer’s decision, that judge will correct it.

Greer denied Stout’s request on behalf of his client to lower the bail, and left it at $100,000 cash only. Although a hearing date has not yet been set, Mariotti is expected to appear in district court within a couple of weeks.