Photo: Courtesy St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A 48-year-old St. Louis County doctor pleaded guilty to child pornography charges involving a teenager who he claimed he had married. Dr. Ashu Joshi admitted during a plea hearing Wednesday that he sent and received pornographic images and had sex with the girl, who was 16 at the time. Joshi’s lawyers argued he couldn’t be charged because he married the girl in a private Hindu ceremony and a Kentucky judge later validated the marriage. Prosecutors and investigators argued the marriage was a sham. The plea deal calls for Joshi to spend eight years in prison and pay $800,000 to the teenager. The two have a child together.
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