Man's life Over, Cops Decide He Watched Child Porn in First Class

Some feel the penalties are too harsh, others feel they must be harsh. These two articles reflect the various positions on both the state and the federal level.

Second US harsh punishments to date is not working in reducing the ease of getting such materials on the net for those who care to do so.

Kentucky House committee passes child porn law
Feb. 15, 2012

FRANKFORT, KY. — The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would punish people who skirt child pornography laws by accessing images or video through overseas computer systems.

Kentucky law already prohibits the possession and distribution of child pornography, but House Bill 126 would also make viewing the images a Class D felony with a possible sentence of up to five years in prison.
Anyone convicted of the crime would have to register as a sex offender.

Supporters said the changes are needed to catch up with technological advances, which allow access to illegal material that remains stored on computer servers in other countries, outside the jurisdiction of U.S. subpoenas.
“These types of off-site servers have proliferated throughout Europe and Asia,” said Morgain Sprague, counsel for Kentucky State Police.

Sprague said Internet users can view the images without ever downloading or “possessing” the material on their personal computer. That has raised legal questions and conflicting court rulings in other states.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kevin Sinnette, D-Ashland, said nine other states have passed similar measures and Kentucky needs to stay ahead of the curve as criminals become more tech savvy.
“The Internet has just leaped forward,” he said. “We are making a statement that our children are paramount, and we have to look out for their interest.”
Sinnette said HB 126 is also aimed at people who view child pornography in groups.

Before voting, committee members amended the measure with language to protect anyone who unintentionally stumbles upon illicit images. The amendment says viewing the material has to be “deliberate, purposeful and voluntary.”
Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, predicted that defendants will seize on the exception in court.
But Sprague said most prosecutions are based on a pattern of conduct, in which offenders scour the Internet with specific search terms or repeatedly enter illegal websites with log-ins and pass codes.

Deputy Public Advocate Damon Preston said he has not had a chance to review the amendment granting exceptions, but he cited concerns about expanding the child pornography laws in a way that could sweep up innocent people.
“The general thought would be most child pornography cases are going to be covered under current law,” he said.

According to the Eastern District of the U.S. Attorneys Office, federal law already prohibits accessing child pornography “with intent to view” and proscribes a maximum sentence of 10 years.

But investigations often involve multiple law enforcement agencies and fall to different jurisdictions based on the details of the case.
Sinnette said comments from a local police officer in his district sparked his concern over the gap in state law.
“Federal law has addressed the issue, but like anything else, they’ve got their hands full,” he said. “It’s kind of like the drug trade. You can be charged federally … as well as locally.”

HB 126 now heads to the full House, where Sinnette expects the bill to pass.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120215/NEWS0101/302150101/Kentucky-child-porn?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Federal child porn charges filed against former U-M resident physician Stephen Jenson
Feb 15, 2012

Federal child pornography charges have been filed against a former resident physician at University of Michigan Hospital who authorities said left a thumb drive containing child porn in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Stephen Jenson, 36, of Pittsfield Township, was charged Tuesday in a federal criminal complaint with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Records show University of Michigan officials waited 6 months to report it to police after child porn was found last May in a locked lounge residents use at the hospital.

Jenson worked at the hospital until late December. He was previously charged by Washtenaw County prosecutors with four counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and is scheduled to return to court in that case Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

To date, investigators have recovered 97 images and four videos of suspected child porn on Jenson's electronic storage devices, according to an affidavit by U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Kevin Nowakowski. The alleged illegal conduct occurred between January 2011 and Dec. 2, 2011, records say.

The delayed report to police prompted the university to conduct an internal review. At least eight people knew about the alleged crime by June 2, records show, but no one reported it to police until November. A physician who knew about the child porn came forward, in part, because of the Penn State University football child sex abuse scandal.

The university didn't fire anyone after the internal review, but said Friday that corrective action is being taken.

The U.S. Department of Education continues to look into the matter.

If convicted in the federal case of possessing child pornography, Jenson faces a minimum of five years in prison.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/federal-child-porn-charges-filed-against-former-u-m-resident-physician-stephen-jenson/

Oh, as most child porn is downloaded for free by way of p2p networks the idea that there is a large commercial motivation in the production of CP is amusing

Lafayette man sentenced in child porn case
Feb. 15, 2012

A Lafayette man was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to having hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his computer.

United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Kermit Escudier, III, 53, of Lafayette, La., was sentenced to serve six and a half years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. The sentence was handed down on Monday by District Judge Richard T. Haik in federal court in Lafayette.

In addition to the prison term, the judge also sentenced Escudier to five years supervised release.

Escudier pleaded guilty in September to possession of child pornography.

Documents filed with the court prior to the sentencing revealed that during an undercover investigation of Limewire, law enforcement discovered child pornography on the defendant’s computer which was located at his residence.

Limewire is an internet peer to peer site used to trade files among members that is regularly used to distribute child pornography. Over 100 images of prepubescent child pornography and over 100 videos of hardcore, prepubescent child pornography was found on Escudier’s computer.

United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley stated, “Possessing child pornography is a crime with serious consequences," Finley said. "The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to vigorously prosecute these types of cases. Those who engage in this type of activity should be clear that federal, state and local law enforcement are committed to do as much as we can to protect children.”
http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20120215/NEWS01/120215026

As is the case with teachers, coaches, and others who work with children, finding child pornography in the possession of a pediatric resident physician is disturbing

You think that anyone possessing child porn is disturbing, so this sentence is typical Firefly dishonesty used to promote an argument.

I think that it is wrong to possess child pornography, but I find the possession disturbing when it is done by someone who works with children, particularly in a position of trust with children.

The New York Times
February 7, 2012
Aide Accused of Taping Sexual Acts With Students
By MOSI SECRET and NOAH ROSENBERG

A teacher’s aide at a public school in Brooklyn who was charged last month with possessing and distributing child pornography was arrested again on Monday night after federal agents discovered that some of the videos showed him engaging in sexual acts with students, possibly at the school, according to law enforcement officials.

The aide, Taleek Brooks, 40, made a video of himself touching a prepubescent child’s penis and another video in which he spanked a naked child, according to a complaint unsealed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials said the videos appeared to have been made inside Public School 243, in Crown Heights, where Mr. Brooks worked.

The gravity of the allegations was such that the schools chancellor, Dennis M. Walcott, visited the school shortly before dismissal on Tuesday.

“My personal reaction is one of disgust on the part of this individual,” Mr. Walcott said. “This case is a horrendous case, and it’s something that should not be tolerated.”

Still, Mr. Walcott said that a “screening system was in place” and that there had been no indications that Mr. Brooks had been abusing students. Then the chancellor went into the school to meet with faculty and staff members.

Mr. Brooks first came to the attention of federal agents in December, when an undercover F.B.I. agent signed into a file-sharing program and discovered a user with the username “T. S.” who had child pornography among his shared files, according to the complaint.

Agents later tracked the IP address of “T. S.” to Mr. Brooks’s home, according to the complaint. On Jan. 13, agents executed a search warrant there, seizing a computer and two external hard drives, among other items, and arrested Mr. Brooks.

Mr. Brooks told investigators that he had collected and saved over 1,000 files on his computers containing child pornography, according to the complaint.

Mr. Brooks was released on $100,000 bail on Jan. 27. A subsequent search of his computer files revealed the images and videos that led to the more serious charges.

Mr. Brooks appeared in court on Tuesday. When the prosecutor described the evidence against him, Mr. Brooks shook his head in objection. The presiding magistrate judge, Joan M. Azrack, who also presided over Mr. Brooks’s earlier bail hearing, revoked Mr. Brooks’s bail and ordered him detained.

“Had the evidence been before me a month ago showing he was a predator, there was no way I would have released him on any bail package,” Judge Azrack said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/nyregion/school-aide-accused-of-abusing-students-in-videos.html?scp=3&sq=child%20pornography&st=cse

Facts are boring when it come to drumming up fear of the stranger who is downloading CP and then molesting children.

Child molesters exist in every part of our society.
They molest children close to them, mainly children in their family or children in their social circle.

Bridgewater State expert says victims of child pornography can suffer for years.
By Maria Papadopoulos
GateHouse News Service
Feb 16, 2012

BRIDGEWATER — Victims of child pornography can suffer for years after the crime occurs, especially if they knew the person who violated them, one expert said.

“When you look at sex or assault crimes, kids can suffer a little worse because it’s an adult that they trusted, and that can make it more psychologically damaging than if it’s a total stranger,” said Elizabeth Englander, a Bridgewater State College psychologist and author of “Understanding Violence.”

Englander added that such exploitation can affect a victim’s ability to form healthy relationships later on in life.

The region has seen a spate of child pornography cases in recent months stretching from Norton to Kingston, Middleboro to Plymouth.

Last month, Joseph Lucier, 50, of Norton, was charged with two counts of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of assault and battery on a child under 14 and two counts of possession of child pornography.

In November, 38-year-old Scott Morrill of Kingston was charged with possession of child pornography after police searched his home.

In October, Dennis King, 47, formerly of Middleboro, was arrested in Pembroke on three counts of possession of child pornography, exhibiting a child in the nude and photographing an unsuspecting nude person. It was the third set of child-pornography charges for King since September.

In August, Paul Teves, 35, a former West Bridgewater high school teacher and coach, was charged with distribution of child pornography. Authorities arrested Teves, of Fall River, after investigating his personal home Internet activities. He resigned from his teaching job in June.

In June, George H. Lunt, 27, of Plymouth, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Lunt, who admitted to possessing thousands of images and videos of prepubescent children and toddlers, and sadistic conduct, will spend five years on supervised release after his prison term.

Also in June, Christopher T. Roy, 38, of Middleboro, a Cub Scout volunteer who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in March, was sentenced to an 18-month prison sentence. Roy was arrested in June 2010 at his Middleboro home after federal customs agents at a Dallas airport found several child pornography videos on Roy’s laptop as he returned from a business trip from Mexico.

http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x440451882/Bridgewater-State-expert-says-victims-of-child-pornography-can-suffer-for-years#ixzz1mZDP8CjZ

Bridgewater State expert says victims of child pornography can suffer for years.
By Maria Papadopoulos

confusing the issue is somewhat dishonest

Quote:

confusing the issue is somewhat dishonest

You're the only one confused about the issue. In your case, the problem appears to be sheer stupidity.

Stop being a bleeding heart for those who contribute to the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children.

Bus driver suspended after federal charges of child pornography
By WKTV News
Feb 16, 2012

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A Birnie School bus driver who drove buses for Birnie within the Utica School District has been suspended from his job following federal child pornography charges.

According to the U.S. District Attorney's office, David McMurray, 28, of Utica, faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000 and a lifetime of supervised release. He was placed into custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 21, 2012.

McMurray is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography.

"Child pornography is the permanent record of a child being sexually exploited," said Nick DiNicola, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Albany. "These children are continually victimized every time those images are transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed. HSI will continue to work closely with its law enforcement counterparts to vigorously investigate these cases and seek justice for the innocent victims
http://www.wktv.com/news/local/Bus-driver-suspended-after-federal-charges-of-child-pornography-139464533.html

"These children are continually victimized every time those images are transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed

I dare anyone to defend this assertion......

"These children are continually victimized every time those images are transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed...

Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my
pictures and recognize me and that I will be humiliated all over again. It
hurts me to know someone is looking at them – at me – when I was just a
little girl being abused for the camera. I did not choose to be there, but now
I am there forever in pictures that people are using to do sick things. I want
it all erased. I want it all stopped. . . My life and my feelings are worse
now because the crime has never really stopped . . . . It is hard to describe
what it feels like to know that at any moment, anywhere, someone is
looking at pictures of me as a little girl being abused by my uncle and is
getting some kind of sick enjoyment from it. It’s like I am being abused
over and over and over again . . . .

Sexual molestation by adults is often
involved in the production of child sexual performances. When such performances are recorded and distributed, the child’s privacy interests are also invaded.” Ferber, 458 U.S. at 758 n. 9 .

The Ferber Court also observed that the “materials produced are a permanent
record of the children’s participation and the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation.” ...
‘[P]ornography poses an even greater threat to the child victim than does
sexual abuse or prostitution. Because the child’s actions are reduced to a
recording, the pornography may haunt him in future years, long after the
original misdeed took place. A child who has posed for a camera must go
through life knowing that the recording is circulating within the mass
distribution system for child pornography.’ . . . ‘It is the fear of exposure
and the tension of keeping the act secret that seem to have the most
profound emotional repercussions.’...

Twenty-three years later, the Supreme Court again acknowledged the harm to
victims depicted in child pornography and observed that a new harm is caused each time the images are shared with someone different. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234, 249 (2005) (noting that “as a permanent record of a child’s abuse, the continued circulation itself would harm the child who had participated. Like a defamatory statement, each new publication of the speech would cause new injury to the child’s reputation and emotional well-being.” ...

United States v. Norris, 159 F.3d 926, 929-930 (5th Cir. 1998), is among the most comprehensive. Rejecting defendant’s arguments that “simply receiving child pornography is a victimless crime,” and “the children depicted in child pornography can only be victims of the crime of receiving child pornography in an indirect or secondary sense,” the Norris court noted that the “‘victimization’ of the children involved does not end when the pornographer’s camera is put away.” Id. at 929. The consumer, or end recipient, of pornographic materials causes the children depicted in those materials tosuffer as a result of his actions in at least three ways:

First, the simple fact that the images have been disseminated perpetuates the
abuse initiated by the producer of the materials. “[T]he materials produced
are a permanent record of the children’s participation and the harm to the
child is exacerbated by their circulation.” The consumer who “merely” or
“passively” receives or possesses child pornography directly contributes to
this continuing victimization.

Second, the mere existence of child pornography represents an invasion of
the privacy of the child depicted. Both the Supreme Court and Congress
have explicitly acknowledged that the child victims of child pornography
are directly harmed by this despicable intrusion on the lives of the young
and the innocent. The recipient of child pornography obviously perpetuates
the existence of the images received, and therefore the recipient may be
considered to be invading the privacy of the children depicted, directly
victimizing these children.

Third, the consumer of child pornography instigates the original production
of child pornography by providing an economic motive for creating and
distributing the materials. . . .[T]here is no sense in distinguishing, as Norris
has done, between the producers and the consumers of child pornography.
Neither could exist without the other. The consumers of child pornography
therefore victimize the children depicted in child pornography by enabling
and supporting the continued production of child pornography, which
entails continuous direct abuse and victimization of child subjects.