Pope says no more pedos!

Pope welcomed at White House on his 81st birthday

Created: 4/16/2008 9:36:09 AM
Updated:4/16/2008 11:07:08 AM

WHITE HOUSE -- Pope Benedict will spend most of the day at the White House, where he was greeted on his birthday with a 21-gun salute and a famed soprano singing "The Lord's Prayer."

Thousands of guests turned out to see him.

President Bush told Pope Benedict millions of people in this country have prayed for his visit. And the president said the U.S is a nation of prayer that welcomes the faithful.

During his flight to the U.S yesterday, the pontiff told reporters he'd like to talk with Bush about reform of U.S. immigration laws. Human rights and religious tolerance are also high on his agenda.

Benedict also said during his flight he is "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sex-abuse scandal. He pledged that pedophiles will not be priests in the Catholic Church.

(Maybe they could be Bishops?) I'm tired of the Catholic Church hiding all these pedophiles. If they didn't like spending $2 Billion in lawsuits against them for sexual abuse, maybe they should have done something to protect their parishoners, instead of sending the Preist to another parish!

04/16/2008 12:07 AM

Pope Benedict XVI is Determined to Bring an End to Pedophiles Working for the Catholic Church

Sexual abuse within the U.S Catholic Church has prompted action from Pope Benedict XVI.

He plans to stop paedophiles working in the church saying, "I am deeply ashamed and will do whatever is possible so that this does not happen in the future."

The Pope, on his first visit to the United States, has received requests to meet with victims of abuse from the hands of corrupt clerics, but he has as yet refused to meet any of them.

The plague of abuse within the U.S clergy has cost the Catholic Church $2bn (£1bn) in abuse settlement costs. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound," said the Pope.

http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=70027

Clergy sex abuse victims react to Pope's words

Play video

(Brad Puffer, NECN: Brighton, Mass.) - Pope Benedict's visit is the first Papal visit to the United States since the clergy sexual abuse scandal broke in 2002. Boston was at the center of the storm.

On his flight from Rome Tuesday, Pope Benedict took four questions from reporters. One of them was about the abuse scandal. The Pope called it a "great suffering" for the Church.

Pope Benedict: "I am deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future. We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from sacred ministry. This is absolutely...who is really guilty to be a pedophile cannot be a priest. First level, is as we can do justice and help, clearly, the victims, because they are deeply touched. Two sides of the justice. On the one hand, pedophiles cannot be priests. On the other hand, to help in all the possible ways to the victims."

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/Clergy-sex-abuse-victims-react-to-Popes-words/1208298558.html

Pope makes first visit to U.S., faces abuse issue

By Philip Pullella

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrived in Washington on his first papal visit to the United States on Tuesday, facing the sexual abuse scandal tarnishing the Roman Catholic Church's image here by declaring himself "deeply ashamed" even before he landed.

On his flight from Rome, the pope vowed to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood. The scandal of priests sexually abusing youths broke in 2002 and has forced U.S. dioceses to pay over $2 billion in damages. Five have gone bankrupt.

The six-day visit includes a United Nations address, masses in baseball stadiums and meetings with Catholic educators and leaders of other religions, but the German-born pope sent a signal that he would not avoid the scandal issue.

"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict told reporters on his flight. The Church will screen candidates for the priesthood, he said, "so that only really sound persons can be admitted."

"It is more important to have good priests than to have many priests," Benedict said.

President George W. Bush greeted the pontiff on arrival at Andrews Air Force Base outside the capital, the first time he has gone to the airport to meet an incoming dignitary. Neither made a public statement, but onlookers sang "Happy Birthday" for Benedict, who turns 81 on Wednesday.

A Washington Post-ABC news poll published on Tuesday showed almost three-quarters of U.S. Catholics approve of Pope Benedict but most find the Church out of touch with their views and criticize the way the sex abuse scandal was handled.

Half wanted the pope to stress traditional teachings and 45 percent preferred policies that "reflect the attitudes and lifestyles of modern Catholics."

'GREAT SUFFERING'

Benedict said the sexual abuse scandal caused "great suffering" to the Church in the United States and also "for me personally."

"It's difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betrayed in this way their mission to give healing, to give the love of God to these children," he said.

Several victims of the pedophile priest scandal denounced Benedict's comments as insincere during a news conference in Boston, where the scandal erupted in 2002.

"He should be ashamed that he is not meeting with survivors and talking with us," said Robert Costello, founder of A Matter of Truth, a Boston-based organization for victims of sexual abuse by priests.

The pontiff was also to discuss the sensitive topic of immigration with Bush, especially the way it split families and strained "the moral and social fabric" of poor countries.

"The United States has to help these countries develop," he said on the flight, so their citizens do not feel the need to leave. "It is in the interest of everyone, not only these countries but of the world and particularly of the United States."

He also praised the role of faith in American public life as an example for more secularized Europe.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush and Benedict would probably discuss "their shared values of human rights and the importance of fighting extremism and also promoting religious tolerance" at the White House on Wednesday.

During his six-day trip, Benedict will pray at Ground Zero, the site in New York where the World Trade Center was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

The pope, who marks the third anniversary of his election during the trip, has said he hopes the visit will lead to a spiritual renewal in America. His U.N. address on Friday will aim to highlight the need for greater peace and justice around the world.

In New York, Benedict will also stop at a synagogue to wish the Jewish community a happy Passover.

The U.S. Church has paid out $2 billion in abuse costs since 1950

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/16/worldupdates/2008-04-16T035340Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-330610-4&sec=Worldupdates

More money needed to fight child porn

Limited funds hinder child porn fight
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

More than 624,000 computers in the USA have traded child pornography, much of it showing the sexual abuse of very young children, in the past 2½ years, a leading police authority planned to tell Congress at a hearing Wednesday.

Yet federal authorities with limited resources pursue fewer than 1% of the leads, according to a USA TODAY analysis of government data.

Flint Waters, chief of the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children task force, has been tracking child porn to specific computers, by serial number, since October 2005. He says that last year, he identified nearly half the computers, 267,120, on just one online network.

U.S. attorneys prosecuted 1,705 cases last year and won 1,409 convictions, according to court records obtained by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The Justice Department says the numbers are higher — 2,118 prosecutions and 1,715 convictions — but it includes other online crimes against children. The cases result from all kinds of tips, not just those from Waters.

As child pornography becomes increasingly pervasive, spreading from the Internet to cellphones and iPods, police have new tools, such as the software Waters developed, to identify traffickers. A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today will probe whether law enforcement, given those tools, is doing enough.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Congress Justice Department House of Representatives iPods Customs Enforcement D-Del Syracuse University Alberto Gonzales Sen. Joseph Biden Waters Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse Child Exploitation Obscenity Section
TECHNOLOGY: Software tracks child porn traffickers online

The Justice Department, particularly under former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, has called enforcement a top priority. Prosecutions more than doubled in the past five years, the department says, and the number of federal-state Internet Crimes Against Children task forces increased from 46 to 59 last year. In 2006, the department launched a program, Project Safe Childhood, to coordinate federal efforts.

"We're trying to use every available resource," says Drew Oosterbaan, chief of the department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. He says there is "unparalleled" federal-state cooperation. "We're supremely more effective than we were."

A boom in funding, though, hasn't followed. "Everyone says great things, but … it hasn't happened," says Arnold Bell, chief of the FBI's Innocent Images Unit, a program to fight child pornography. He says his program's funds have barely budged. It got $33.1 million in 2006, $34.8 million in 2007.

The number of child porn cases hasn't changed much. Innocent Images opened 2,440 cases last year, compared with 2,430 in 2003 and 2,370 in '02.

"This problem is growing by leaps and bounds," says Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. He says the Justice Department hasn't committed enough resources to fight it and that department leadership on the issue is "non-existent." He is sponsoring a bill, passed by the House of Representatives in November, to spend $1.05 billion over eight years on fighting child porn. That would more than triple funding for the task forces, he says.

"You could easily apply another 1,000 agents" to fight online child exploitation, says Shawn Bray of the Cyber Crimes Center at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which investigates child sex tourism, trafficking and porn.

"We're not even scratching the surface," says Waters, who has helped train 1,800 investigators to use his software. "We have to tell folks we're hurting."

Visit this website to view the video of Flint Waters describe the emotional impact of his job.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-15-childporn-main_N.htm

Stupid pedo busted in the library

Child Pornography Arrest

Video Low
Video High

A Camarillo man is accused of not only viewing child pornography, but also keeping ropes, duct tape and candy in his vehicle.

Police say they arrested Richard Ballard on Monday while he was looking at a child pornography at a public library. Authorities booked Ballard for possession of child pornography.

Anyone who had contact with Ballard is asked to contact Camarillo Police.

Library visitor arrested in child porn probe
Wednesday, April 16, 2008


A Camarillo man was arrested Monday in the city's library after a plainclothes detective reported him viewing child pornography on the Internet, and a later investigation turned up "quite possibly thousands" of pieces of pornography in the man's home and "disturbing items" in his car, police said.

Richard Ballard, 57, was being held in Ventura County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail on suspicion of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child.

The case began March 31, when a visitor at the Camarillo library saw a man viewing child pornography at one of the public Internet workstations, according to a statement from the Camarillo Police Department.

The visitor told the library staff, who in turn reported the incident to law enforcement.

The man was gone when deputies arrived, but his image was captured by security video cameras inside the library, authorities said.

He was seen again at the library about 12:30 p.m. Monday, and authorities said a staff member called the Southern California High Tech Task Force.
A plainclothes detective responded and saw the man viewing child pornography at a workstation in clear view of anyone nearby and took him into custody, authorities said.

A search of Ballard's residence revealed "possibly thousands" of images involving the sexual exploitation of children, police said.

Authorities said they found "disturbing items" — including blankets, ropes and duct tape — in the trunk of Ballard's car and a bag of candy in the glove box.

Ballard is 5 feet 7 inches tall and 150 pounds. His car is a white 1986 Cadillac El Dorado.

Anyone who has had suspicious or adverse contact with Ballard is asked to call Detective Kevin Donoghue at 383-8704.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/16/library-visitor-arrested-child-porn-probe/

Man's arrest after viewing child porn in library called a first

By Adam Foxman (Contact) Thursday, April 17, 2008

The arrest of a Camarillo man who was viewing child pornography at a public library was the first of its kind in the county, police and library officials said Wednesday.

Richard Gene Ballard, 57, was arrested Monday at the Camarillo Library after a plainclothes detective spotted him viewing child porn on a library computer, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

The Southern California High Tech Task Force, which includes the Sheriff's Department and the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, began investigating the case after someone reported seeing a man looking at child porn at the Camarillo Library on March 31.

The man left the library before detectives arrived that day, but he was captured on library security cameras. On Monday, a library employee spotted him and called police. A plainclothes detective responded and found him again looking at child porn, authorities said.

Investigators later searched Ballard's residence and found hundreds of sexually explicit images of children that had been printed from a computer, Detective Kevin Donoghue said. They also found blankets, ropes, duct tape and candy in Ballard's car, the detective said.

Ballard was booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of felony possession of child pornography and related misdemeanors. He was being held this week in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Although local libraries do not restrict Internet access for adults, authorities said Ballard's case is highly unusual.

"What I see is one isolated incident where the police responded perfectly," said Jackie Griffin, director of the Ventura County library system. "We have thousands of people a day using libraries and computers, and this is certainly the first case like this we have had."

Internet access for people under 18 is restricted at Ventura County libraries, but there are no filters for adult users, Griffin said. As part of a 1998 court settlement involving a lawsuit brought by the local Libertarian Party, the library system was ordered to provide unfiltered Internet access for adult patrons. A year earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court granted sweeping free speech rights to the Internet, overturning a federal law targeting online pornography.

Donoghue said he has investigated one other allegation of someone looking at child porn at the Camarillo Library but never identified a suspect in that case.

Ballard is not suspected of any crimes other than possessing child porn, Donoghue said. He had no prior criminal history in Ventura County.

Donoghue said anyone who might have had suspicious contact with Ballard can call detectives at 383-8704.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/17/mans-arrest-after-viewing-child-porn-in-library/

Daddy's got child porn

Father of 2 guilty in child porn case
By Amanda Kerr The Virginia Gazette
April 16, 2008

JAMES CITY - A 24-hour delay for a search warrant may have allowed time to erase incriminating evidence against a Greensprings West father of two accused of possessing child pornography.

Nonetheless, 30-year-old Joseph Bryant Melton was convicted Monday of attempting to possess child pornography, a felony that carries up to five years in prison. Investigators were able to link Melton to the child pornography website “ProSex” through “E-Gold,” an electronic payment system.

The case took nearly three years to bring to trial.

In March 2005 Interpol notified U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforce­ment and the Postal Service about a website in Washington state that advertised the sale of child pornography. Melton’s name turned up during an investigation, and Paul Wolpert of Immigration & Customs in Norfolk was alerted.




In January 2006, Wolpert, accompanied by James City police officers, went to Melton’s home. He declined to let them inside and did not consent to a search without a warrant. Wolpert returned the next day with a search warrant and seized two desktop computers and two laptops.

On Monday, Wolpert testified that three of the computers’ operating systems had been re-installed or wiped clean overnight.

A fourth computer, which was found in a box in a crawl space in Melton’s home, did contain images of suspected child pornography and Internet searches to websites called “Lolita’s World” and “Little Girls.”

Wolpert said the fourth computer had not been turned on since 2002. Images found on the hard drive dated to 1999 and 2000. None of the images were linked to ProSex.

Melton was originally indicted on 11 counts of possession of obscene material in September 2006. After the commonwealth attorney’s office had difficulties coordinating with the attorney general’s office, which was prosecuting the case, all charges were dismissed in May 2007.

Four months later Melton was re-indicted on possession of child pornography for an image found on the computer and with attempted possession of child pornography for the apparent attempt to purchase child pornography from ProSex.

Melton’s attorney, Patrick Kelley, argued that anyone who was living with or visiting Melton could have downloaded the pornographic images.

Kelley said that aside from the electronic transfer, there was no evidence that Melton had attempted to buy videos from ProSex or that he ever downloaded videos from the website.

Circuit Judge Samuel Powell III felt there was enough evidence to convict Melton of attempted possession of child pornography.

“I suspect before those computers were cleared, they had child pornography on them,” he said. “I can’t think of any reason why he would suddenly need to clear those computers.”

Melton will be sentenced June 18.

Gymnastics Coachs busted with Child Porn

Grand jury indicts men on pornography charges

ST. CHARLES – Three St. Charles men out of jail on bond in connection with possessing child pornography images on their computers were indicted Tuesday in separate cases.

They are Shawn C. Bowlden, 33, Vernor P. Gumila, 39, and Scott J. Nuxoll, 20. Gumila already had been indicted, but prosecutors said further investigation led to additional indictments Tuesday.

Nuxoll was arrested March 26 after police said they found multiple movie files on his computer that contained images of child pornography.

He was indicted on eight counts of possession of child pornography and eight counts of possession of child pornography with the intent to disseminate.

Nuxoll has posted $7,000 bond and awaits a May 8 court appearance.

Last October, roommates Bowlden and Gumila were arrested after police seized child-pornography images on their computers.

Bowlden and Gumila both were gymnastics coaches. Bowlden worked at St. Charles Gymnastics Academy, and Gumila worked at Gymkhana Gymnastics Club in Hanover Park.

Bowlden was indicted Tuesday on 17 counts of possession of child pornography, and Gumila was indicted with four counts of the same offense. He already faces nine counts.

Bowlden is out of jail on $20,000 bond, and Gumila is free on $25,000 bond.

Bowlden and Gumila are not allowed to be near minors while awaiting trial. Bowlden is scheduled to be in court April 30, and Gumila is set for a May 29 court appearance.

– Kate Thayer

Google helps in the fight against child porn

Google Helps Group Find Child Predators On The Web

The software tools help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sift through millions of pornographic images and videos from the Web to find child sex predators.

By Antone Gonsalves InformationWeek
April 15, 2008 02:26 PM

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has developed search technology that sifts through millions of pornographic images and videos from the Web to help police find child sex predators.

A team of Google researchers led by Shumeet Baluja used the free time the company provides employees to work on pet projects to develop software tools tailored to help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children track down child predators. Google is a member of the organization's Technology Coalition Against Child Pornography.

To date, NCMEC analysts have reviewed more than 13 million child pornography images and video in helping law enforcement identify and rescue children, Baluja said in a blog post on Google. With such a large volume of data, NCMEC analysts had been overwhelmed by what was being sent to them each week from their CyberTipline and from police investigators nationwide.

The tools developed by Google researchers helps NCMEC workers sort and identify files that contain child pornography. In addition, the new video tool streamlines analysts' review of video snippets, Baluja said. "In particular, the tools we provided will aid in organizing and indexing NCMEC's information, so that analysts can both deal with new images and videos more efficiently and also reference historical material more effectively."

In organizing the data more efficiently, analysts will be able to work faster in getting law enforcement the information they need to locate missing children and find child sex predators, the researcher said.

"You always hope that your work will eventually be used to do some good in the world, and this was an amazing chance to make that hope real by creating tools that have the potential to aid investigations of child predators, find child victims, and reduce the flow of child pornography on the Internet," Baluja said.

The latest report from the Internet Watch foundation shows that in 2006, 50% of Internet images showing sexual abuse of children were traced to the United States. The report also showed that the severity of online child abuse content is increasing.

Clowning Around With Child Porn

Birthday Party Clown Arrested on Child Pornography Charges in New York
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

WESTBURY, N.Y. — A Long Island, N.Y. clown has been arrested on child pornography charges.

Nassau County police say 40-year-old Westbury resident Alexander Zacarias was arrested Tuesday night after his home was searched and his computers were seized.

State and county Internet crimes officers say Zacarias is a part-time clown at children's birthday parties. They say he used his home desktop and laptop computers to exchange hundreds of child porn images.

Zacarias is charged with multiple counts of promoting and possessing a sexual performance of a child. He's scheduled for arraignment Wednesday.
Police say his computers are being examined and more charges might be filed.

Zacarias has been jailed. Jail guards say they can't forward telephone messages to him, and he doesn't have a listed home phone number.