WSACP

Webmaster Support

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If you are a webmaster and would like to support WSACP please feel free to place the button below on your website.

IMPORTANT: Button must be uploaded to your own server and linking to http://www.wsacp.org

Simply right click and "save as ..." and then upload it to your server.

A text link is also fine, please use the following text

Fight Child Porn

linking to http://www.wsacp.org

Fight Child Porn

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We feel that child pornography is the biggest crime you can inflict on a child.

Our goal is to stop as many as possible of these websites and make the internet a better place for everyone.

The WSACP button displayed on a website shows that the website support WSACP and are against Child Porn.

We encourage everyone to help us fight these websites by reporting them and also support us by becoming a member of WSACP.

Child Porn Resources

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Family Friendly Sites - No adult, No Hate and No violence

Legal Information Institute - The definition of child pornography.

U.S. Customs - The U.S. Customs Service is the country's front line of defense to combat the illegal importation and proliferation of child pornography.

Cyber Angels - The largest internet safety organization since 1995.

CPAC - Childrens Protection and Advocacy Coalition.

Sexual Abuse Recovery Forum - A web site for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Pedofilia No! - A Spanish organization against child porn.

censura.com.br - A Brazilian site dedicated to fighting online child pornography.

WSACP FAQ

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Q. How can I help support WSACP?

A. Companies can support by becoming members of WSACP. For more information please see our members page.

If you are a private person and would like to help us you can join WSACP. For more information please see our members page.

If you are an webmaster you may support us by label your site with our WSACP button. For more information please see our webmaster page.

Q. Is it safe to report child pornography websites to WSACP?

A. Yes, it is 100% safe and information is kept confidential.

Q. What feedback are you able to provide regarding reports?

A. We provide feedback on all reports submitted with a valid email address. We will inform you if a suspect site has been reported to the authorities. If we are unable to report a suspect site to the authorities we will inform you of the reasons.

Q. Can you tell me what action has been taken by the authorities against a suspect website?

A. No, we can't provide details regarding possible actions taken by the authorities against a suspect site and its owner(s) / operator(s). The authorities are unwilling to discuss information regarding reports or ongoing investigations. We understand your concerns but as much as we'd like to keep you informed about the progress of your reports, we are unable to do so at this time.

Q. Are child porn text stories illegal and should I report them?

A. As of today it is 'technically' not illegal to feature text related to underage persons. We understand your concerns but unfortunately we are unable to report sites that offer this type of material at this time.

Q. Are anime/cartoon sites which seem to depict child porno drawings illegal and should I report them?

A. At this time animations, drawings and cartoons are also 'technically' not illegal. This issue is currently being debated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Unfortunately we are unable to report sites that offer this type of material at this time.

Q. I would like to track down these websites to report them, can I get in trouble with the authorities?

A. This is a difficult question to answer with certainty. Laws do vary around the world. In the U.S. it is illegal to download, transmit, publish or be in possession of child pornography for any reason. It is not illegal if you find yourself on one of these websites, exit it and report it. However, if you surf such websites on an ongoing basis for the purpose of reporting there is the potential to attract the attention of your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the authorities. We do not recommend this, but we do encourage everyone that comes across such sites to report them immediately thereafter.

Q. I am concerned that by the time WSACP or the authorities get to my report the site may have moved. Can I download a suspect site and send you the child pornography material through email?

A. No! Do not send us any child porn material. It is illegal to send this material for any reason. All we needs is the web address of the suspect site. It is illegal to download any child pornography material to your computer..

Q. What about child pornography found in newsgroups, chatrooms, file sharing and mails?

A. We only accept reports of child pornography 'websites'. Please report all other issues of child pornography to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Q. Are sites which contain nude children illegal? The operators claim they are 'art sites' and contain no 'pornography'. They also claim that they are legal under U.S. Laws. Is this true and should I report such sites?

A. Maybe, but not always this is true. We encourage you to report any site you find suspect/ offensive. Just because the site claims to be legal does not mean it is. We report all sites which contain nudity of minors and the authorities make all legal determinations. Click here for the legal definition of child pornography.

Q. I reported a suspect site to WSACP some time ago and it is still online. Why?

A. There can be several reasons for this issue. Some of reasons are:

* The authorities have not yet completed their investigation of the site and its customers.
* The site was not found to be illegal under current laws and the authorities were unable to take any action against the site.
* The site and its owner(s) / operator(s) reside in a country where the authorities are unable to act or gain the cooperation of that country's authorities.

Q. Can you close these websites?

A. No. but we do contact the hosting service and the authorities.

Australia Police Online Child Porn Unit

2008-04-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

March 3, 2005
The Australian Federal Police will headquarter its Internet child porn fighting unit, the Online Child Sex Exploitation Team, in Robina on Queensland’s Gold Coast

The new facility was launched officially March 1 by Justice Minister and Member of Parliament Sen. Chris Ellison, who said the launch joined new laws taking effect the same day that lay heavy fines on Internet service providers who do not remove or report child porn and other “inappropriate” material when they become aware of it.

“We’ve achieved a balance which we think is appropriate,” Ellison said at the OCSET headquarters launch.

"We've had a transition time for the industry to become acquainted with their new requirements and obligations, we're happy with that we'll have continuing ongoing consultation with them,” he continued. “Quite frankly this requires a partnership across the board, industry, government and indeed the public."

The OCSET headquarters launch came over a week after those new laws were announced as part of Australia’s continuing crackdown against Internet child porn. ISPs and content hosts could be fined $11,000 for individuals or $55,000 for businesses if they fail to report found child porn to the AFP. The new laws also provide ten years in prison for anyone using the Net to access, send, or make child porn available.

"It can not be emphasised enough,” Ellison said when the laws were passed, “that behind every horrid piece of child pornography is a tragic case of an abused defenceless child, somewhere in the world."

Charged for Laundering Child Porn Money

2008-04-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

January 16, 2004
Two companies in Belarus and Florida have been charged with laundering profits from child pornography Web sites, and more than 40 people in the United States have been charged with downloading the material.

Regpay Co. Ltd., a credit card processing company in Minsk, Belarus, collected fees for memberships to child pornography Web sites that brought in millions of dollars, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Thursday. Connections USA, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is accused of receiving Regpay's membership fees and wiring the money to Latvia as directed by the company. Connections' CEO, Eugene Valentine, 38, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to launder money for Regpay and its principals. Four of Regpay's leaders were indicted, and three were arrested over the summer in France and Spain. U.S. authorities are seeking to have them transferred here for prosecution.

About two dozen New Jersey residents, and 20 other people around the nation, have been charged with downloading child pornography. They allegedly had subscribed to the sites. Regpay was formerly known as Trustbill, while Connections did business as Iserve. Regpay operated at least four child pornography sites from Minsk and carried advertising for other child pornography Web sites, the indictment said. "Today's indictment strikes at the heart of the commercial trade of child pornography by attacking the commercial profits derived from such a deplorable venture," Attorney General John Ashcroft said

Convicted For Tricking Young Girl Into Sex

2008-04-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

November 14, 2003
A Palm Springs man was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for molesting two neighbor girls, including an 11-year-old convinced by a phony doctor letter that sex would be healthy for her.

Superior Court Judge James Hawkins told Luis Cifuentes, 36, on Wednesday that his conduct was particularly egregious because of his position of trust, the vulnerability of the 11- and 8-year-old victims and his scheme to get the 11-year-old to have sex with him.

Cifuentes was convicted by a jury in September on 12 counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 as well as special allegations of multiple victims and substantial sexual conduct.

Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Seebart said the crimes occurred in July and August 2002. Cifuentes had sexual intercourse with the 11-year-old and fondled the younger one, Seebart said. The girls lived next door to Cifuentes. Hawkins denied a request by Deputy Public Defender William Maxwell to allow Cifuentes to serve his life sentences at the same time instead of consecutively. The prosecutor, who argued Cifuentes engaged in a "predatory scheme" to get the girl to have sex with him, said Cifuentes gave the girl a forged letter from a doctor saying that to grow up and develop into a physically strong and healthy person, it was time for her to experience sex. When Hawkins asked Cifuentes if he had anything to say, the Guatemala native replied, "I am guilty. There is nothing else I can say. You guys have your laws in how you handle this."

Former Musician Sentenced for Child Porn

2008-04-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2003
A musician who eluded authorities on three continents for more than a year was sentenced Friday to more than 16 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Eric Franklin Rosser, who was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List, pleaded guilty to child pornography and international conspiracy charges in July. He confessed to producing a sexually explicit video with a preteen Thai girl and trading it for pornography involving two young girls from Bloomington.

Before he was sentenced, the former keyboardist for rocker John Mellencamp told the court, "I am an addict of viewing the images of children. I committed acts for which I'm deeply ashamed and will haunt me for the rest of my life."

Rosser, 51, was arrested in February 2000 in Thailand on various charges, including possessing child pornography. But he jumped bail and disappeared. A federal grand jury in Indianapolis indicted him in March 2000.

Thai police said Rosser underwent liposuction, had cosmetic surgery to his face and then traveled to the Netherlands, England and France before returning to Thailand, where he was arrested again in August 2001. He served time in Thailand before he was returned to the United States.

Rosser, who ran a music school in Bangkok, has been held in an Indiana jail since he was extradited in 2002.

Preacher in child porn shame

2008-04-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2003
A missionary preacher who used puppets to teach his bible studies to children, has admitted downloading more than 1,000 computer images of child pornography.

Dewi Lloyd Howell, pleaded guilty to having indecent images of children over four years.

Howell worked throughout South Wales as a missionary for the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church of Wales.

He regularly came into contact with children through bible studies or preaching and illustrated stories using toys or puppets.

When police raided his Valleys home in July, they found computer images of child pornography and magazines depicting children carrying out indecent sex acts with adults.

After being arrested, Howell, 47, told police: "There are things that I have downloaded, they are on discs in the living room."

At Blackwood Magistrates' Court yesterday, Howell pleaded guilty to 16 charges of having indecent images of children. He also asked for 985 similar offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard Howell had used the internet since 1997.

Paul Latner, prosecuting, said Howell had discovered a child pornography site and subscribed by giving personal and credit card details.

Patrick Meadows, defending, asked magistrates to give credit to Howell for offering a guilty plea at the first opportunity.

Magistrates adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports, saying sentencing in crown court was an option. Howell was ordered to register as a sex offender and inform police of his whereabouts.

Child-porn businessman fights for secrecy

2008-04-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

October 22, 2003
A wealthy Auckland businessman has interim name suppression after being convicted of internet child-pornography charges.

In the Auckland District Court yesterday, Judge Philip Recordon refused to discharge the man scot-free or without a conviction as requested by the man's lawyer, Stephen Bonnar.

The judge said the man was a "person of means" but that ought not place him in a special position.

The man was also refused permanent name suppression.

"Permanent anonymity will not serve the children you abused," the judge said.

But after the judge granted the man suppression until 9am tomorrow to allow him time to talk to his family, Mr Bonnar told the court his client would go to the High Court to seek permanent name suppression. That made continued suppression effectively automatic.

All details that could identify the man, including the reasons put forward for a discharge without a conviction, are suppressed.

The man was sentenced to 350 hours of community work - "for the community you have let down" - on six charges of trading objectionable pictures and fined $1000 on each of 15 charges of possessing objectionable pictures after he pleaded guilty.

The six charges involved boys aged from 6 to 12 in sexual poses and the 15 charges involved 7- and 8-year-old girls engaged in sex with adult males.

Judge Recordon said that but for the mitigating factors in the case, including the fact that the man made no commercial gain from his activities, imprisonment would have been almost inevitable. The man was trapped by an American website designed to catch offenders. It offered free subscriptions to internet users if they submitted images. The man responded with pictures of boys in sexual poses and in April last year the Department of Internal Affairs was contacted. The man had been sending objectionable pictures over the internet for two years. His computer contained 3455 picture files and 555 movies. More than 20 per cent were objectionable. Judge Recordon said he had seen some of the pictures and "they are awful". But he agreed with Mr Bonnar that the pictures relating to the six "trading" charges were not as serious or grave as some could be. In an earlier hearing, the man addressed Judge Recordon, saying: "I did something that is basically totally abhorrent to me ... Child pornography is sickening to me." Mr Bonnar told the court that his client was not motivated by a sexual interest in young children but he had become morbidly fascinated and "somewhat addicted".

Child-porn law being challenged

2008-04-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

October 05, 2003
It may be a surprise to chronic Internet surfers that anyone in Arizona who clicks onto a child pornography Web site - even if nothing is downloaded - could wind up in prison.

While they do not condone the existence of child porn, some critics are questioning the fairness of Arizona's sentencing ranges for those convicted of possessing it. The state's anti-child porn law, which orders between 10 and 24 years on each conviction, is the most punitive in the country, according to a Phoenix attorney who is challenging the law.

Proponents of the Arizona law maintain the law is not intended or used to punish anyone for an innocent mistake. They say the law is tough because possessing or transmitting any child pornography is not only a serious crime, but also an indicator of more dangerous behavior.

"It is the toughest in the nation, no question about it," said attorney Jason Lamm, one of several Phoenix defense attorneys who have successfully obtained dismissals of child pornography charges in Maricopa County, though the criminal cases have since been reinstated by the Arizona Court of Appeals. Lamm and other lawyers are now seeking an opinion from the Arizona Supreme Court.

Lamm is asking for the dismissal of another case involving child pornography in Pima County, arguing as he did in the Phoenix cases that the law is vague, overly broad, and constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment."

Arizona's laws on crimes against children have long mandated harsh sentencing, said Kathleen Mayer, who prosecutes sex crimes for the Pima County Attorney's Office and applauds the fact that the state's laws make protecting children a priority. People who view child pornography are contributing to an extremely dangerous market that exploits infants and children by putting them in horrifying situations, she said.

"It's unreasonable to conclude that these people are not a danger to the community," said John Taylor, a criminal investigator with the Pima County Attorney's Office who is part of the local Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement - SAFE - team, which works full-time investigating sexual crimes committed using the Internet.

"Sexual predators used to be part of a closed society, but with the Internet they have perceived anonymity and they are able to find other people out there who validate their behavior," Taylor said.

Point, click, prison?

Critics argue that someone who possesses one or two pieces of child pornography could wind up spending more time in prison than someone convicted of second-degree murder or child molestation. They say the law against child porn, called sexual exploitation of a minor, was not written with the Internet in mind.

"Before, to get child porn you had to go to great and elaborate lengths," Lamm said. "Now you sit down at home, point and click and in a couple of seconds you've just racked up decades of potential prison time."

Case in point: Tucson native Phillip Gregory Speers, 31, a former Catholic schoolteacher, is serving a 34-year prison term for possessing two computer images of child pornography - 17 years for each conviction, which according to the current law must be served back to back. Speers' computer was seized after a girl in the second-grade class he taught made a claim of sexual misconduct against him.

By comparison, a Catholic priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson who abused the children of working class Mexican families to whom he ministered was sentenced in July to 10 years in prison.

The Rev. Juan Guillen, former associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Yuma, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted child molestation after being charged with 13 felony charges related to four victims - all young men from Spanish-speaking families who attended his church, and whom prosecutors say the priest raped.

After his conviction in June of 2002, Speers was locked up in a maximum security prison reserved for serious offenders, since child pornography is classified by the state as a dangerous crime against children. Speers, who says he has never used child porn for sexual gratification, refused plea offers because he so strongly believed in his innocence.

In Phoenix, some defendants have been sent to prison for more than 200 years for child porn, said Lamm, citing the recent case of Phoenix high school teacher Morton Robert Berger, 51, who was sent to prison for 200 years for having child porn on his computer - a decade for each picture. In another case, Lamm is defending an 18-year-old with no criminal history who's facing up to 144 years in prison for accessing child porn through computer file sharing.

By comparison, Lamm recently defended a case of child pornography possession in Maine, where it's considered a misdemeanor and does not require jail or prison time.

"Knowingly" is key word

A study completed in June by the California-based Internet security firm Symantec Corp., found that more than 80 percent of the 1,000 youths it surveyed who use e-mail receive inappropriate spam on a daily basis. Forty-seven percent reported getting e-mails with links to X-rated Web sites. Most significantly, about one in every five kids open and read spam
e-mails, the survey said.

Taylor, the investigator, said someone who accidentally clicks on child pornography should call law enforcement. He regularly gets calls from computer repair businesses, for example. The law specifies the word "knowingly" when it comes to accessing child porn, he stressed.

The local SAFE team, which began with part-time investigators in 1999, has been getting busier each year investigating cases for both state and federal prosecution. Investigators are now full-time and say they are only just catching up to the huge number of children being exploited by people using the Internet.

"If we had 100 officers we'd be prosecuting people every day. We are barely scratching the surface on this," said Taylor, whose multiagency team typically recommends between 50 and 60 cases for prosecution each year.

Criticism of prison terms for child porn do not always take into account the context of the case, said Jefford Englander, a detective with the Pima County Sheriff's Department who works with Taylor on the SAFE team.

"It's a gateway activity that leads to sexual molestation of children," he said.

On Sept. 24, Speers' sentence was lengthened from 34 to 105 years in prison by Yuma County Superior Court Judge John Nelson. Nelson added 71 years for child molestation convictions.

Speers' Tucson attorney, Richard Bock, is appealing both the molestation and child pornography charges. Bock said that the images Speers was convicted of possessing were in temporary Internet files that are not saved by the user, but rather automatically saved by the computer. In other words, Bock said, Speers never downloaded the images, and there's no proof he knowingly accessed the Web sites containing names like Lolita and "sex hound" that investigators found in his computer's temporary files. Bock also pointed out that during the trial there was some debate as to whether the children in the images were actual children or whether they had been created electronically. The U.S. Supreme Court last year used that argument to strike down provisions of the 1996 federal anti-child porn law. Such issues pose new questions for judges hearing cases of sexual exploitation of a minor. Other questions for courts include whether temporary Internet files should be considered the same as downloaded images; whether the images in the photos depict minors or adults who are young in appearance; and whether clicking on an Internet site constitutes the same degree of culpability as other methods of obtaining child porn. "We're going into uncharted waters here," Lamm said.

Tell the kids
* Advice for parents to give to children to protect them from sexual predators:

• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you met online.
• Never upload pictures of themselves onto the Internet or an online service to people they do not personally know.
• Never give out identifying information such as name, home address, school name or phone number.
• Never download pictures from an unknown source as there is a chance they could include sexually explicit images.
• Never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or harassing.
• Don't believe everything you are told online.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI

Preteens victims of sex club

2008-04-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2003
Police say a Clovis home was used as a sex “club” between adults and at least 18 preteen girls. Reports show the case came to their attention after a 9-year-old girl confided in her teacher.
Although dirty and vacant, the house at 700 E. 10th St. appeared to have had children in the area until recently. A few broken dolls lay scattered Tuesday afternoon in the yard, a stuffed animal rested on the roof, and closed curtains were printed with scenes of cartoon insects and balloons.
According to police records, a student at Parkview Elementary met with her teacher and principal on Sept. 16. An investigation led to the Sept. 22 arrest of Anastacio Esquebel, 21, who police said told them a number of other adults were also involved in sexual activity with children at the house.
On Tuesday afternoon, police arrested Billy Martin, 49, for child abuse and criminal sexual contact with a minor less than 13; Martin’s wife, Jeanette Martin, 44, was also arrested and charged with child abuse.
Esquebel is being held on a $1 million bond for six counts of criminal sexual penetration and six counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 12. Billy Martin is being held on a $100,000 bond; Jeanette Martin was released on a $10,000 bond.
Detective Kirk Roberts said three other suspects are not being named, but police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Harry Robbs, 40, on eight counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor under 13 and are asking the public for help in locating him, as well as other children who may have been victimized.
“We have yet to find Harry Robbs and we’d very much like to find him,” Roberts said. “We didn’t want to release information earlier out of concern for the other suspects fleeing the area. We believe that may be what happened with Harry Robbs. Once we arrested Anastacio Esquebel, word got out very quickly.”
The Martins lived at the 10th Street home until recently and police said Robbs apparently lived there as well. Roberts said the house appears to have been used as a site to attract children, most of whom were known by but not related to the adults.
“A lot of (the incidents) occurred at this house,” Roberts said. “Pedophiles usually work with kids they meet through regular social settings, and then do grooming, which means building trust, building a relationship of sorts.”
Neighbors said the suspects used toys and candy to lure children into the house.
Police said the home was used to attract children for sex acts and that not all of the suspects lived there.
“It had an atmosphere of these guys getting together and having a little club of this,” Roberts said.
Roberts said a Clovis school program to help students identify “good touch” and “bad touch” was instrumental in helping school officials and then police learn about the situation.
“What we had was the initial disclosures from Parkview Elementary, then we had another disclosure where the same perpetrator names and some of the same victim names were coming up,” Roberts said. “I think it’s safe to say this has been going on for several months.”
Clovis Superintendent Neil Nuttall said he was glad the schools began the program.
“It was very apparent that these students were equipped to make a report to the people they had trust in and relied upon, and that was their teachers and principal,” Nuttall said. “I feel horrible, of course, that this kind of behavior is happening but we’re pleased we’re responding to it.
“This is an incident where everyone sprang into action.”

Neighbors say they shared concerns with others.

A woman who lives near the house where police say adults were engaging in sexual activity with children said Tuesday she suspected inappropriate activities three months ago.
Birdie Hill, who lives near Ross and 10th streets, said she and her family tried to warn neighbors and police about inappropriate relationships between adults and children in the neighborhood, but felt their concerns went unheeded.
Police said Tuesday they learned about the allegations of sex between adults and children when a Parkview Elementary school student told a teacher and principal on Sept. 16. Deputy police chief R.E. “Bart” Bartosiewicz said he did not know about any earlier reports, but said police could have responded without notifying the neighbors.
“When you get these allegations, they may have looked into it, but if the leads are not there, they’re not there,” Bartosiewicz said. “The question is how hard did they try to make the police aware, or did they just call once or twice?
“If it was my kid or grandkid, I’d be down there standing on Chief (Bill) Carey’s desk bitching and moaning about this and saying, ‘What are you doing about this?’ ” Hill said she and her family monitored activity at the house at 700 E. 10th St. and even tried to take pictures of unusual situations. “They always had five or six little girls over there,” she said. “One day, Harry Robbs picked up our son along with several little girls, and my husband and I went looking for him. We found him and the girls at Roy Walker gym. After that, we didn’t allow our kids over there.” Police have issued a warrant for Robbs’ arrest in connection with the sex charges. They’ve arrested three others and say they have more suspects. Hill said she and her husband, Lee Hill, talked to several parents of neighborhood girls about their concerns, but the parents didn’t believe them. “My husband and I talked to them in person, but they didn’t listen to us,” she said. “A lot of the parents would ignore me and let their kids go over there anyway. One of the little girls told us she was Harry’s ‘favorite,’ and Harry claimed that she was his girlfriend. She was only 11 and Harry was about 40 years old. We asked those girls why they kept going back over there, and they said ‘because he gives his candy and gifts.’ It was pathetic. I worried about it. I wished I could have done something about it.” Alma Sherley, a neighbor on Ross Street, said she saw “strange men” at the house where several of the suspects lived until a couple of weeks ago. “There was quite a few people who hung out over there at that house,” she said. “There were men I didn’t normally see in the neighborhood. They had a little girl over there, but there would be other little girls over there. I have a grandson I take care of, but I told him I didn’t want him going over there.” Sherley said she often warned her grandson to stay away. “They always had kids over there,” she said. “I knew something was going on over there. It seemed strange to me with all those people over there. I knew something wasn’t right. That’s why I made my grandson stay away.” Sammy Cordova, an employee at Car Country Cash Today at 10th and Prince streets, said he hadn’t seen any activity at the house in recent days. “The people in that house moved, but I don’t know where they moved,” he said. “There used to be a lot of kids who would hang around there. It’s just sad. I hope they catch the people they’re looking for.”

Germans smash child porn ring

2008-04-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2003
German authorities said yesterday they had uncovered one of the world's biggest child pornography rings in which thousands of members from 166 countries swapped images of children as young as four months over the internet and by e-mail. Curt Becker, the justice minister in Saxony-Anhalt, said 26,500 suspected paedophiles were traced through computer files seized last year from a man in Magdeburg. These contained a huge e-mail distribution list, via which members of the ring swapped pictures. Mr Becker said 530 German men, including police officers and teachers, had been identified as suspects and were being investigated for possession or distribution of child pornography. But members were traced as far afield as the United States and Australia. "One of the biggest internationally active networks has been smashed," he said.

In a sweep codenamed Operation Marcy and involving 1,500 police, 502 premises were raided across Germany this week. Officers seized 745 computers, at least 35,500 CDs, 8,300 diskettes and 5,800 videos. One photograph seized in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia showed a baby of four months being abused.

Peter Vogt, a public prosecutor, said members of the network had accessed material via a password system. A "manager" had checked to make sure participants were contributing, as well as viewing, pornographic images; if not, they were thrown out of the groups. Last night, police said seven people had been arrested in the UK and 15 further British suspects identified.

Mall Santa Facing Child Porn Charges

2008-04-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2003
A man charged with possessing child pornography worked as a Santa Claus at Muskegon's biggest shopping mall. Walter Arthur Johnson, 49, of Muskegon County's Muskegon Township, was arraigned Wednesday on four felony counts of possessing child sexually abusive materials. If convicted on any of the counts, he faces up to four years in prison and a fine. Michigan State Police say Johnson was employed last Christmas season as Santa Claus at The Lakes Mall in Fruitport Township. Police say none of the charges against Johnson involve his position as Santa Claus. But they say his Yahoo! Internet profile gives his nickname as Santa and lists his favorite quote as "Wanna come sit on my lap, little girl!" Investigators believe Johnson received some pornography from Jeffrey E- Dean of Fruitport Township, who is accused of coercing underage girls to perform simulated sexual acts before a live Web camera.

Dismay as paedophile probe fails

2008-04-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2003
The massive internet child pornography investigation Operation Ore has ended in Scotland without anybody being charged with sex abuse, senior police officers have revealed.

Police chiefs are dismayed that no one found to have accessed child pornography on the web is being prosecuted for abuse despite officers having "grave doubts" about the safety of children living with them.

According to the senior officers, the 16-month operation, costing millions of pounds and involving all eight Scottish police forces, failed to gather the necessary evidence.

The Scottish arm of Operation Ore was wound up three weeks ago after investigating some 350 people north of the Border, about 200 of whom were in Strathclyde and 70 in Lothian and Borders.

One member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) who was involved in planning and pursuing the investigation north of the Border and asked not to be named said: "On many occasions I heard that officers had experienced grave doubts about the safety of certain children, but nobody reported anything to us so we could not press charges. This means that after expending a massive chunk of our resources on this inquiry, not a single person will be convicted of ‘hands-on’ abuse.

"That would not trouble us if we thought that all the men who were looking at child porn on their computer were just sad creeps who did not pose a risk to the children in their lives, but that is not the conclusion that was drawn from every raid."

The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was given a list of more than 7,200 UK suspects by the FBI after American investigators took over a website in 1998 used by 75,000 subscribers worldwide accessing hundreds of illegal pay-to-view sites by credit card.

It is understood that NCIS decided some 2,000 UK subscribers out of more than 7,200 suspects should be pursued.

Computer equipment and other items have been removed and examined for evidence linking the owners to paid-for child porn sites. The operation has been a massive drain on resources, partly due to the rigorous standards of evidence-gathering. Each computer seized can take experts many months to examine at an estimated average cost of £2,000.

Celebrities, lawyers, police officers, teachers and clergymen have been among those arrested under Operation Ore.

Last week, Detective Constable Brian Stevens, a family liaison officer in the Soham double-murder inquiry, was cleared of charges of having illegal images on his computer and of sexually assaulting two girls. He is just one of some 50 police officers in the UK who have become entangled in Operation Ore’s web.
However, British forces were overwhelmed by the scale of the operation and, as the months passed, tough decisions had to be made to dispose of some cases with a warning. Some of those who have been caught, including the rock star Pete Townshend - who said he accessed the sites for research purposes - have been cautioned and added to the sex offenders’ register.

The Scottish courts are now experiencing a steady trickle of cases linked to the inquiry and experts estimate it will be another two years before every case is concluded.

Under current legislation, people convicted of possessing child pornography face a maximum sentence of five years, distribution carries a maximum penalty of 10 years. The maximum sentence for child abuse is life.

Expressing his disappointment that no sex abuse charges have been brought, the senior member of ACPOS said: "When we received our lists from the FBI, there were so many names that we had to prioritise. We had to go first of all to those who had access to children, either through their jobs or in the home."

Last night, Anne Houston, director of the helpline Childline Scotland, said: "We hear from hundreds of children every year who tell us they have been sexually abused. Every image of child abuse on the internet is a crime scene.

"If Operation Ore is to be wound down, we very much hope police take child abuse on the internet seriously and continue to put resources into catching the perpetrators."

SNP MSP Nicola Sturgeon, the shadow justice minister, said she understood the senior officers’ frustration: "It’s worrying if the police have suspicions that people are involved in child abuse and nobody is going to be convicted."

John Geoghan was tied and beaten

2008-04-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2003
Defrocked priest John J. Geoghan was bound, gagged, strangled, and stomped by a fellow inmate who followed the notorious child molester into a cell Saturday afternoon while one prison guard was distracted with other prisoners and another officer was temporarily away from the area, according to correctional officer union officials.

The fellow inmate, Joseph L. Druce, then jumped from John Geoghan's bed onto John Geoghan's chest at least twice, the officials said.

"An officer heard a noise, went over to the cell, and he saw Geoghan on the floor, gagged and tied," said Robert W. Brouillette, business agent for a 5,000-member corrrectional officer union. "Druce was standing on the bunk."

Brouillette's account of the attack comes from correctional officers who work at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

John Geoghan, hands tied behind his back, was strangled with either one of his T-shirts or a bed sheet, and beaten, Brouillette said.

Druce used one of Geoghan's shoes or sneakers to tighten the sheet or shirt, another union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. "He twisted the shoe to tighten the ligature around Geoghan's neck," the official said. "It all happened in a matter of minutes."

Brouillette said six or seven guards, alerted by a commotion in the cell, rushed to the scene but were unable to immediately open Geoghan's cell because, he said, Druce had jammed it from inside, perhaps with a stick.

Brouillette said there is no video surveillance inside the inmates' cells.

Union officials said inmates had finished their lunch, eaten on trays in their cells. The inmates had returned their trays to a common collection area outside their cells, when Druce trailed Geoghan and pounced on him in his quarters, the officials said.

One official said Druce had been closely following the unit's staffing patterns the last three months, apparently in an effort to strike when staffing levels were at their barest minimum. "These guys have nothing better to do 24 hours a day than to watch what you do and how you do it," said Brouillette, who represents the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union.

Union officials yesterday said they have complained about inadequate staffing levels in the protective custody unit, which opened earlier this year. The area where the attack took place is typically patrolled by two correctional officers, but during Geoghan's assault, one officer was assigned to monitor lunch activities elsewhere, one of the officials said. The union had been seeking to have three officers on duty.

Kelly Nantel, the state Department of Correction public affairs director, yesterday declined to give any description of the attack.

The details about the assault came as state officials struggled to explain how a serial pedophile could have been left alone with an inmate convicted of a "gay-bashing" murder.

Prisoner rights activists yesterday called for an independent probe into Geoghan's strangulation death inside Massachusetts' most modern and secure prison.

Nantel acknowledged there are 366 surveillance cameras at the Souza-Baranowski facility, which straddles the town line between Shirley, which is in Middlesex County, and Lancaster, which is in Worcester County. She would not say whether Saturday's attack, or the events that led up to it, was captured on videotape.

"There are significant video capabilities in the facility," Nantel said.

Geoghan, whose serial child molestation offenses helped to ignite the roiling scandal in the Catholic Church, was housed in a unit away from the prison's general population with inmates deemed not to pose a threat to him, Nantel said.

The state is investigating how officials could have allowed Geoghan, 68, to share the same prison space as his alleged killer -- the 37-year-old Druce, a convicted murderer with a white supremacist past and an apparent disdain for homosexuals. Geoghan was accused of molesting about 150 children, mostly boys.

Nantel said the correction department's policy is to keep any two inmates with a documented history of antagonism apart, even if that means allowing only one into the protective custody unit.

But prisoner rights leaders said Geoghan's slaying should be the focus of an independent probe, declaring the state Department of Correction incapable of policing itself.

"Everybody in prison knows that prisoners who have attacked children are hated," said Joshua Rubenstein, Northeast regional director of Amnesty International. "Mr. Geoghan was sentenced to a long jail term. He was not sentenced to be beaten or murdered by another inmate."

Rubenstein and Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, said federal investigators such as the FBI or the US attorney's office should open an investigation independent of those begun by the DOC and Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte.

"Let's face it," said Walker. "They screwed up. This was a skinny old man that they allowed to be murdered on their watch and in our name."

As the head of a statewide nonprofit law office for prisoners, Walker said she visited Geoghan at Souza-Baranowski in April just after he became one of the first inmates at the new protective custody unit there following his transfer from the state prison in Concord.

"He was very relieved to be at Souza-Baranowski," Walker said of Geoghan. "He told me he felt safe there."

As an inmate in the maximum security prison's protective custody unit, Geoghan was locked alone in a cell secured by a wooden door with a window cut into it except for the roughly three hours a day he was allowed out of his cell. State prison regulations require correctional officers to make rounds at least every 30 minutes.

Nantel said corrections officials are prepared to make changes in procedures, if necessary, to protect inmates. She declined to answer questions about why Druce and Geoghan shared a common area, other than to say that prison officials assign all inmates who might be in danger to the small, well-monitored unit known as protective custody where both Geoghan and Druce were housed.

Inside protective custody, however, the inmates are in regular contact with fellow prisoners also considered at risk, she said.

"Inmates in protective custody are not isolated from all others," the DOC spokeswoman said. "They do get out of their cells and have contact with others in protective custody."

Inmates in protective custody share recreational facilities, access to telephones, and a visitor area, she said. The number of inmates they come into contact with is vastly lower than in the general population. When Geoghan was killed, there were 24 inmates in the protective custody unit, compared with 1,200 in the general population.

Nantel said the Department of Correction considers the safety of inmates on a case-by-case basis. While the nature of an inmate's offense might be taken into consideration, there is no general rule for the security of all inmates convicted of a particular type of crime, such as child molestation, she said.

"We don't assess the safety of all inmates by a category of offense," she said. "The process is to identify anyone who may be at risk and house them where their safety can be assured. I don't want to get into a particular offense as being more risky or more susceptible. The bottom line is the safety of all."

A prisoner cannot be assigned to the protective custody unit simply by requesting it, she said. "There has to be a documented history of an enemy situation, for example, or some particular notoriety," she said.

In Druce's case, he was an admitted neo-Nazi who was in prison for a crime that mirrored the attack on Geoghan. He strangled a 51-year-old man in 1988, after driving him to a wooded area. Police said Druce apparently believed his victim was gay. A police officer who investigated the murder said Druce "viewed it as a gay bashing."

Dana Smiledge of Byfield, Druce's father, has said his son has a longstanding grudge against homosexuals, in addition to a hatred of blacks and Jews.

The $105 million Souza-Baranowski facility opened in 1998. Prisoner rights advocates have said that since the prison's opening there have been persistent complaints of inmate mistreatment.

"What we have heard is that when one prisoner attacks another prisoner, the guards do nothing," Walker said. "They stand and wait until it's over."

Nantel, the DOC spokeswoman, dismissed that characterization of prison disturbance protocol. "That is not the policy. The policy is to intervene when it's safe to do so," she said.

Walker, the legal services director, said during her April visit with Geoghan, he realized that he was a potential target in prison. "We talked about how difficult it was for him being such a notorious client," Walker said. "He was aware of his notoriety." Geoghan's old assignment to Concord's protective custody unit was considered too porous, according to James Pingeon, a lawyer with Massachusetts Correctional Services. "There were serious security concerns with the protective custody unit at Concord because of contact with the general population," he said. "My sense is that the situation at Souza-Baranowski was better." Walker and Pingeon said Geoghan believed his food at Concord was being fouled before it reached him. "He suffered a lot of abuse at the hands of inmates and guards," said Pingeon. Stuart Grassian, a Newton psychiatrist who has written about prison life, said officials should have realized Geoghan was an obvious target for violence and done more to prevent him from coming in contact with Druce. "The risk to him was fairly obvious," Grassian said, noting that inmates in all prisons maintain an aggressive social pecking order that shunts pedophiles to the lowest rung. Conte, the Worcester County district attorney, did not return telephone calls yesterday. An autopsy on Geoghan is scheduled to be performed today. A Worcester County grand jury will hear the case against Druce in September.

Man convicted of sex assault

2008-04-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2003
Man who faked his own death convicted of sex assault
A South Carolina man who cut out his pacemaker as part of an attempt to fake his own death earlier this year was convicted of the sexual assault charges authorities said he was trying to evade.

A jury in Erie deliberated for little more than an hour Wednesday before finding former prison guard Steve Lukowich guilty of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl in 1998 and 1999.

Prosecutors credited testimony from Lukowich's victim for his conviction on sex charges, including indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors.

"There was no question they believed the little girl's story. She's been waiting a long time," said prosecutor Damon Hopkins.

Much of the testimony during his two-day trial focused on Lukowich's disappearances earlier this year and last year.

Sheriff's deputies in Jasper County, S.C., found his pickup truck abandoned on a roadway in January with the keys inside and a trace of blood smeared on the rear window. His pacemaker and a piece of skin were later sent to his wife along with a note saying the "beast of the children" had been killed.

Lukowich was arrested in Erie in April when his mother convinced him to surrender.

On the stand, Lukowich testified that he faked his death because he could not find steady work and wanted his wife to get insurance money.

Lukowich's attorney, Keith Clelland, argued that the molestation allegations stemmed from a legal dispute between Lukowich and the girl's mother, who he maintained had threatened him with the charges before.

Lukowich could be labeled a sexually violent predator when he is sentenced Sept. 25.

Lukowich, who moved to South Carolina from Erie in 1999, was also reported missing in October after workers found a drill in the water near a dock he was fixing. Divers searched until he returned home the next day, saying he had been knocked unconscious and fallen into the water, but later awoke and swam to shore.

Ex-Mayor in child porn case

2008-04-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2003
They took away their bullets and stuck them in front of computers in the office where they can't do too much harm. They thought their careers were over, but posing as thirteen-year-old girls in chatrooms can yield prosecutorial pay dirt once in a while when the moon is right. And sure enough, untrusted FBI Special Agents nailed ninety slobbering pedos which Yahoo! was sheltering in its 'Candyman' egroups online community. Kudos, ladies and gentlemen; you may well have earned your bullets back.

Forty pervs are currently in handcuffs, and another fifty are expected to be rounded up by week's end.

Among the sickos currently in custody are police officers, athletic coaches, and sundry military, medical and clerical workers. Among the clerics, only the two Catholics have been meticulously identified by denomination in the American press, in keeping with America's rabid anti-Catholic inclinations. The others may be Jews or Buddhists or Muslims or lowbrow America-First Protestant proles, but this detail is not regarded as newsworthy by Reuters, Yahoo! News, NBC, or the Washington Post.

The Yahoo! group in question, www.egroups.com/groups/thecandyman, is believed to have contained upwards of 7,000 members, most of whom will, regrettably, escape prosecution.

"Operation Candyman demonstrates our commitment to protecting our nation's children from sexual predators. This extensive operation should serve as a warning to others that we will find and prosecute those who target and endanger our children," US Attorney General John Ashcroft nevertheless said on Monday.

'Commitment', perhaps; but 'effectiveness' is another story. One in seventy isn't quite the ratio we're looking for. We admire the effort, and the spirit as well; but perhaps it's time to let the Special Agents who still have their bullets contribute a bit as well.

Professor caught with 150000 child-porn pix

2008-04-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2003
The disgraced New York Law School professor caught with 150,000 child-porn pix - including nauseating images involving babies and dogs - got a wrist-slap sentence yesterday: He'll stay free until the end of October, then serve six months in jail.

That means father of two and noted copyright-law expert Edward Samuels will spend less than two minutes behind bars for every sickening image prosecutors found on his computer files.

The sentence outraged child-rights advocates.

"This is not stamp-collecting - each of these images is a record of a criminal act," said Ruben Rodriguez, of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"Light sentences only encourage the continued production of these images."

Samuels downplayed his depraved collection as not having directly hurt anyone - and as free for the taking to anyone who goes online.

"Ninety-nine percent of what I downloaded was from newsgroups publicly available to anyone on the Internet," he told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Brenda Soloff.

The judge admitted she struggled over whether to send Samuels to jail at all. She noted that while she'd seen some of Samuels' pictures and considered the crime "serious," Samuels has "been forced into self-awareness and is seeking help."

But lead prosecutor Maxine Rosenthal had argued that Samuels was only stopped after more than 20 years of amassing his collection - and only after stunned computer techies at the college stumbled upon the pictures during a routine repair.

Prosecutors had hoped for 11/3 to four years in prison, the maximum allowed under Samuels' April plea deal.

"Each and every one of those children was victimized by the defendant," Rosenthal said as Samuels sat expressionless but for a single, fleeting smirk at the defense table.

The professor's colleagues and friends, filling two rows in the courtroom, also remained expressionless, even as the prosecutor described in sickening detail the pictures' contents, including how the young girls were pictured "crying and grimacing in pain."

New York Law School allowed him to remain on paid leave for nearly a year after the techies discovered the porn - and were quickly fired.

Samuels eventually resigned, 11 days after his guilty plea.

He tried to minimize the repulsiveness of the photos, claiming that only a few involved penetration or violence, and that he'd downloaded those only by accident.

But prosecutor Rosenthal pointed out that Samuels knew what he had - and hid the worst pictures on password-protected discs in "a secret box" labeled "Kitchen Books."

Former governors aide indicted on porn charges

2008-04-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

June 7, 2003
A federal grand jury has indicted a one-time personal assistant to former Gov. A.B. "Happy" Chandler on child pornography charges.

Thomas Arthur Manus, who has spent the last 17 years living in Woodford County under the name Reuben Roberts, is accused of using a young girl to create Internet pornography. The girl was sometimes subjected to "sadistic abuse," according to the indictment filed Thursday.

Manus, 57, is also charged with 45 counts of using a computer to receive child pornography.

Manus was first arrested in late April and charged with 12 counts of sexual abuse, which stunned colleagues at the Woodford Sun, for which he wrote a gardening column. He also faces child sexual-abuse charges in Fayette County and in Orange County, Calif.

Manus, who is in the Woodford County jail, was known as a simple man, a Quaker who tended gardens, cared for children and lived an exemplary life.

During the 1980s he was an assistant to Happy Chandler, who had been Kentucky governor for two terms, 1935-39 and 1955-59.

In 1999, he was appointed to the Versailles Human Rights Commission, several years after he set up a homeless shelter in that city.

Manus could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five counts accusing him of using a minor child to create pornography.

Ex-priest escaping sex cases

2008-04-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

May 27, 2003
A former U.S. priest who crossed into Mexico to escape sex abuse charges in California and Wisconsin died after leaping from the third-story balcony of a hotel in this resort city, authorities said Monday.

Federal and state agents surrounded the Vista Dorada Hotel just off one of Mazatlan's most-popular beaches Sunday and planned to arrest Siegfried F. Widera, who was accused of 42 counts of child molestation in the United States.

Minutes after authorities arrived, Widera ran to the balcony of his room and jumped, said Marta Gutierrez, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office in Sinaloa, where Mazatlan is located.

Gutierrez said it was unclear why 62-year-old ex-priest threw himself off the balcony but that he may have been trying to escape capture. He died of severe cranial trauma as members of Mazatlan's Red Cross were rushing him to a nearby hospital, she said.

Widera's room was on the hotel's second floor but was three stories up because the first floor is located above the lobby, Vista Dorada officials said.

Gutierrez said Widera had not been accused of wrongdoing in Mexico but that federal and state authorities ordered his arrest at the request of their U.S. counterparts. Mexico had planned to extradite the fugitive priest to the United States shortly after his arrest, she said.

Gutierrez said it was unclear how long Widera had been in Mazatlan, 530 miles northwest of Mexico City on the Pacific coast, but that he probably came there from Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso.

The manhunt for Widera had expanded from Milwaukee and California's Orange County to Tucson, El Paso and the service's liaison office in Mexico City, U.S. Marshal William Kruziki said.

This month authorities in Texas said Widera had been spotted in west Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Mexico and that he may have been trying to work as a priest in small villages in northern Mexico.

Gutierrez said it was unclear if Widera had been acting as a priest in Mazatlan or anywhere in the country.

Townshend Comments On Child-Porn Arrest

2008-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

May 24, 2003
Legendary British rocker Pete Townshend has made his first extensive public comments about the child-porn scandal that put his name on Britain's list of registered sex offenders.

In an e-mail to Rolling Stone, the lead guitarist and principal songwriter for the Who says he intends "to work my way back to normality" after his January arrest for accessing a child pornography Internet site.

Townshend maintains that he viewed the site simply as research for his autobiography. The member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame believes he was sexually abused as a child and said he surfed the porn sites as research for his book.
In the e-mail, Townshend says he will try to bring his own future efforts to fight child pornography into the limelight to clarify his feelings about the subject.

"I've decided to greatly formalize the structure of my charity (Double-O) and the way I work with "survivors" -- so that in future my work is more well-known to everyone," Townshend writes. "I've kept my profile low in this area out of modesty I suppose, and it has worked against me."

Townshend also says he will accelerate work on his autobiography with the hope that readers will have a better understanding of his motives.

"People need to read about my entire life to get a real picture of who I am," he writes. "I hope to finish it by the end of the year. So it may come out next year sometime."

Television interviews will not be a forum for Townshend to explain himself, he wrote.

"Going on TV won't help me," he writes. "I'm too wounded, too crazy, too happy and grateful, too resentful and too busy."

Instead, Townshend hopes to tell his story through the book and by meeting people who are "undecided" and giving them "a chance to look me in the eye and make their own decision." Though Townshend has been cleared of criminal charges in the case, he was formally cautioned by British authorities on May 7 and placed on a register of sex offenders. Townshend also thanked fans for their support, and expressed particular gratitude to bandmate Roger Daltrey. "Roger has been a rock," Townshend writes.

Child porn bust may be biggest ever

2008-04-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2003
Swedish police believe the child porn case uncovered by Kripos, Norway's National Bureau of Crime Investigation, can be one of the biggest in Internet history. Over 40 young girls may have been victimized. "In recent years there have been many child porn cases involving the Internet, but this has dimensions that make it unique. We believe that over 40 young girls may have been abused and photographed. There are many indications that this is the most significant case of this type in the world," said Per-Olov Forslund, head of Sweden's national police squad in charge of fighting child pornography. A 41-year-old Swedish citizen is in custody, suspected of abusing a number of children, largely in the Huddinge district in south Stockholm. He is alleged to have photographed and filmed his assaults and then distributed the images to pedophiles around the world via the Internet. Both Norwegian and Swedish police are convinced that the Norwegian man arrested in Fredrikstad on Tuesday morning is connected to the Swedish suspect.

International acclaim

Kripos has won international acclaim for their role in the case, having worked for two years on tracing details about a recurring series of children pictured in pornographic images. Interpol first noticed the pattern, and believed the victims were northern Europeans. Thanks to their investigations and two handy tips, Kripos could deliver the chief suspect's name to colleagues in Sweden. "There is no doubt that Kripos has done an invaluable job. Cases of this type are very international, since child porn spreads via the Internet across the world, but many countries refuse to do anything. Kripos took up the challenge and deserves respect for that," Forslund said. Interpol is also reportedly planning to honor the Norwegian effort, but Kripos is not getting excited. "There is no hocus-pocus involved in what we have done. Even if much of the investigation has taken place on the Internet, we haven't done anything other than good old-fashioned police work," said Kripos superintendent Håvard Aksnes.

Sex acts were part of a game

2008-04-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

May 8, 2003
Jack Alberto York took the witness stand Tuesday to defend himself against charges he molested three young girls.

It was an unusual defense: He admitted he fondled the girls and had them perform oral sex on him.

But, he said, it was their idea.

York, 39, of Land O'Lakes, could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of the five counts of capital sexual battery, and three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct. The jury of four women and two men is expected to get the case today. Testimony presented Tuesday buried York in a flurry of allegations, and the only defense he offered was his own testimony.

York confessed to a Pasco County sheriff's deputy days after the allegations surfaced, and a tape of that conversation played in court Tuesday before he took the stand.

York, on tape, said everything started March 10, 2002, with what he thought was going to be an innocent game of "truth or dare," a game in which children either dare each other to perform stunts or challenge each other to reveal a secret.

He was with three girls: two 10-year-olds and a 9-year-old.

One of the 10-year-olds dared him to expose his genitals, York said. He did, and the girl dared herself to perform oral sex, York said. The others followed, he said.

"I just thought it was going to be a harmless children's game," York said Tuesday. "I just didn't think about it. My mind was somewhere else. . . . If I had it to do all over again, I would've said "no'." York said Tuesday one of the girls had trouble making friends, so he went along with the game to help her stay friends with the others. He said he had been drinking alcohol. He said he had been taking pain pills for his back. Unlike most defendants, who appear for trial in a suit, York was in his jail-issue jumpsuit and ankle shackles. His public defender, Tom Hanlon, told Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb that reassuring jurors that York has been in jail might make them less inclined to convict him. The three girls, whose names the Times is withholding because of the nature of the allegations, testified Tuesday, each providing a similar account, each pointing out York in the courtroom. York listened to the testimony, whispering to Hanlon at times. He wept during one child's testimony, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jumpsuit. Hanlon said York rejected his attempts to negotiated a 25-year plea deal. In a letter to two of the girls' mother, York asked her not to let the girls testify and said he was hoping for a 15-year sentence. Prosecutor Stacey Sumner rested the state's case Tuesday afternoon. Closing arguments are scheduled for today.

Townshend placed on sex offenders register

2008-04-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

May 8, 2003
Pete Townshend will be placed on the sex offenders' register for five years after accessing a child pornography website.

Townshend, 57, was cautioned today by police for accessing the images and his fingerprints, photograph and a DNA sample will be taken by police.

The Who guitarist was arrested in January as part of the Operation Ore investigation into accessing child porn on the internet. He admitted using his credit card to access images but said they were for "research" for a book he was writing.

Police said that it was not a defence "to access these images for research or out of curiosity."

His official police caution was for "accessing a website containing child abuse images" after the investigation found he was not in possession of any downloaded images of child abuse.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: "At 12.00 today at Kingston police station, the musician Pete Townshend was formally cautioned for accessing a website containing child abuse images in 1999.

"After four months of investigation by officers from Scotland Yard's child protection group, it was established that Mr Townshend was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images.

"He has fully co-operated with the investigation."

Townshend admitted that he was wrong to access the website. But he insisted police had “unconditionally accepted” his explanation that he was looking at the site as research for his “campaign” against child pornography. He said in a statement: “From the very beginning, I acknowledged that I did access this site and that I had given the police full access to all of my computers. “As I made clear at the outset, I accessed the site because of my concerns at the shocking material readily available on the Internet to children as well as adults, and as part of my research toward the campaign I had been putting together since 1995 to counter damage done by all kinds of pornography on the internet, but especially any involving child abuse,” he said. “The police have unconditionally accepted that these were my motives in looking at this site and that there was no other nefarious purpose, and as a result they have decided not to charge me. “I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me.” Operation Ore is an FBI-led crackdown on internet child pornography. Townshend was one of The Who's four founding members, along with bassist John Entwistle, singer Roger Daltrey and drummer Keith Moon. Moon died in 1978 and Entwistle died last year.