David Frahm
CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI on Monday found David Matthew Frahm a flight risk.
However, she said the federal government failed to satisfy “a clear and convincing” standard that the defendant is a danger to the community or any other person.
Frahm is accused of making child pornography. A superseding indictment charged him with attempted exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography, and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
Last week, Frahm, through his court-appointed attorney Richard Miller, waived the reading of the charges and the defendant’s rights. Frahm then entered a plea of not guilty to all three charges in the superseding indictment.
The federal government, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley, filed a motion for detention pending trial, noting that the case against Frahm is a felony involving a minor, and there is a serious risk that the defendant will flee.
Judge Manglona granted the federal government’s motion and ordered Frahm detained pending trial.
He was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after the hearing and was brought to the Department of Corrections.
The court scheduled a jury trial for Aug. 13 at 10 a.m.
On June 6, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Richard J. Bauer served Frahm with an arrest warrant in Malaysia. The warrant was issued by designated Federal Judge David O. Carter in February.
On June 9, Frahm was extradited to Saipan after serving three months in jail in Langkawi, Malaysia where he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornographic material. The prison sentence counted the days when he was first arrested on Feb. 15, 2024.
In Malaysia, Frahm was charged with sexually harassing an 11-year-old girl. He was accused of filming the girl when she was bathing in her home. The girl was his neighbor.
