Former ‘16 & Pregnant’ Star, Lori Wickelhaus, In Prison For Child Pornography

Lori Wickelhaus, who appeared on season two of MTV’s 16 & Pregnant has been arrested for being in possession of child pornography. The former reality star has been sentenced to 6.5 years in a Kentucky jail on 20 counts “for possession of a matter portraying a minor in a sexual performance” as a part of her plea agreement, she is also required to take mental health counseling. The 29-year-old first came under suspicion in 2020 after an investigator received a tip from the Kentucky State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The tip stated that an “unknown subject uploaded images that depict child pornography to a dropbox account.”

Wickelhaus was picked up by police and booked but the one-time reality star has dealt with drama before. In the 2010 episode of 16 & Pregnant that featured Wickelhaus, the teen chose to follow in the footsteps of season one couple Tyler Baltierra and Caitlyn Lowry who chose to place their daughter Carlee up for adoption, Wickelhaus was 17 at the time. The episode focused on her friends and family who all had an opinion on the idea of adoption and did not hesitate to share it with Wickelhaus and her then-boyfriend and father of the child. Ultimately, she gave the child who she named Aidan up for adoption.

Wickelhaus never made it to Teen Mom or any of the following spin-offs. It wasn’t for lack of drama though, or so we can assume. During her episode of 16 & Pregnant, Wickelhaus’s family drama was one that fans would assume MTV would want to capture. Like Lowry and Baltierra, she too had an open adoption and would visit regularly with Aidan and his adopted family but after that brief update, MTV moved on to produce season three and cast a new batch of teenagers struggling with an unexpected pregnancy. However, it looks like MTV missed out on some potential drama. Wickelhaus went on to have two more children and a daughter and a son and things with the father are not great. In fact, they are allegedly no longer in contact and this was before the arrest.

Wickelhaus has a lot of explaining to do because inappropriate content was found on two of her devices. After officers got news of what was taking place on her laptop, they also took possession of her iPhone where they found more illegal pornography. Wickelhaus posted her own ten-thousand-dollar cash bond (where could she have possibly gotten that kind of cash?) Once she was released she entered a plea of “not guilty” for the charges relating to “possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor”. According to The Sun, in May 2021, she suddenly changed her plea to guilty. As of June 30, she has been in custody for contempt of court.

Unfortunately, for MTV Wickelhaus is just the latest in a number of girls from several of their series that have gone rogue. Fellow teen moms Farrah Abraham and Amber Portwood have had their own troubles. Abraham was fired from Teen Mom for allegedly verbally and physically attacking crew members in her driveway. Some of the attacks aired in one of her final episodes. However, long before the attack fans were calling for her to be let go because she had attempted a career in adult entertainment, but MTV had been portraying her as a teen mom who has made it work. Portwood was in jail for drug abuse, and she has also been charged with physically abusing the father of her son while he was holding their child. And let’s not forget Jenelle Evens, the name should trigger a few memories. Other cast members have had trouble with the law and drugs as well but nothing like child pornography. No reps for Wickelhaus have made any further comments.