What Happens When You Allow Sex Offenders In Your Home

Inviting Sex Offenders Home: When Mom's Relationship Puts Children at Risk
Two Midwest Children Disappeared, Third Killed After Moms Associated With Sex Offenders
By SARAH NETTER
June 24, 2009
55 comments

Losing a child to a sex offender is a mother's nightmare. But what if that mother is the one who brought the sex offender into her home?

In the cases of at least three Midwestern children reported missing this year, police have discovered that their mothers had relationships with known sex offenders.

One little boy was found safe in a motel. One little girl was found buried in a riverside grave. And the third -- 3-year-old Haylee Donathan --was found Tuesday thousands of miles away from her home.

Federal authorities hunting Haylee's abductors knew who they are looking for -- her mother Candace Watson, 24, and Robbi Potter, 27, a convicted sex offender she is accused of helping escape from a post-prison halfway house in Mansfield, Ohio, May 28.

Police say the two disappeared with Haylee from Watson's Crestline, Ohio, home May 31, days after Watson, her brother, Haylee's biological father and his girlfriend allegedly helped Potter leave the halfway house he'd been staying at since being released from prison three days earlier.

Cyle Watson, along with James Donathan and his girlfriend Nicole Kirkpatrick have all been arrested and charged with complicity to escape, the same charge Watson is facing.

But authorities were most concerned with apprehending Potter and getting Haylee home safe to her grandmother who had been awarded emergency custody in the little girl's absence.


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Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Andrew Deserto told ABCNews.com that all three were picked up just outside San Diego after someone recognized them from a billboard the U.S. Marshals had placed in several states.

Both Watson and Potter have been arrested and are being held in California. Haylee appeared to authorities to be unharmed saved for a case of what looked to be chicken pox. She is currently in state custody, also in California.

They had apparently been staying at a Christian ranch for about a week, Deserto said, adding that Watson could face federal charges for aiding a fugitive.

Potter had two warrants out for his arrest, one for a federal probation violation stemming from a bank robbery conviction and the other a state probation violation related to his sex offender status.

Ken Lanning, a consultant and former FBI agent who spent two decades studying the sexual victimization of children, said that, in general, the first hurdle for pedophiles on the prowl is access to children. One of the most common ways to get that, outside of abusing a family member, is to latch on to a woman with children, often in a romantic relationship.

And while mothers of the abused children run the gamut from being knowingly involved with the abuse to being completely fooled, Lanning said, most fall into the category that is hardest for police to deal with -- "mom should have known."

Lanning said that while some would consider a mother's attention to a sex offender crime enough, some women don't just turn a blind eye to abuse. They participate.

Lanning added he's heard of some women who actually consent to the predator having sex with their children, with the stipulation that the predator has sex with them first.

Those are the cases that are easy to prosecute, he said. Most of the others fall into a grey area with authorities unable to prove how much about the sex offender the mother knew and whether or not she knowingly put her children at risk.

Lanning said he couldn't comment specifically on Haylee Donathan's disappearance, but he said women who choose to stick by sexual predators, even at the risk of their own children, have succumbed to the offenders' ability to prey on their vulnerabilities.

"Adult human beings tend to believe what they want or need to believe," he said. "Someone to tell her she's pretty, someone to support her.

"The more desperate she is and the greater the need, the more vulnerable she becomes to this," Lanning said.

'Nothing's Been Proven Yet'

Haylee's grandmother, Mary Watson, said she isn't sure whether her daughter went on the run with Potter willingly at this point.

"It was like her voice was shaky the last time," Watson said of the last time she spoke to her daughter the day she disappeared. "And her voice was short."

The last known sighting of Haylee before she was found was at an Ohio Wal-Mart they day she was reported missing. Deserto said Watson was caught on the store's surveillance system returning a tent and allegedly stealing some clothes while Donathan and a child believed to be Haylee waited in the parking lot.

Watson was seen again getting into the passenger side of the truck at a Colorado gas station June 2, Deserto said. While police believe that Donathan was in the driver's seat, Haylee couldn't be seen.


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Potter's criminal history includes prison time for two counts of sexual battery and Deserto said he has a history of child sexual abuse.

But Mary Watson said her daughter had no idea of the severity of Potter's crimes until after she picked him up.

As for the charges against her daughter and son and the others, Mary Watson said she's not sure what to believe.

"I don't know nothing about them helping" Potter escape, she said. "Nothing's been proven yet."
But in an interview with the Mansfield News Journal, Cyle Watson, who served his own prison sentence on a rape conviction, admitted to helping Potter leave the halfway house, but said he only did so in hopes Potter would get in trouble with the law -- retribution, Cyle Watson told the paper, for not paying a debt.

"Things are really, really serious. It went from a trick to now," he told the Journal from inside jail. "He messed with another girl. He might be messing with my niece."

'He Would Have Done It a Little Sooner'

Lanning said mothers who knowingly admit sex offenders into their lives aren't knowingly stupid. Women with high self-esteem, good educations and successful careers are less likely to fall into this trap, he said, but aren't immune.

"The more needy you are, the more you need to believe," he said.

In last month's murder of 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan, her mother had relationships with two sexual offenders who have since been jailed because their parole conditions prohibited associations with women who have children.

Though no arrests have been made since Nevaeh's body was found in a cement-covered grave along the River Raisin in Michigan June 4, Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield has called George Kennedy, 39, and Roy Lee Smith, 48, persons of interest.

Some locals have begun turning against Nevaeh's mother, Jennifer Buchanan, for giving sex offenders access to her only child.

Buchanan told the Detroit Free Press in an interview earlier this month that she was "completely innocent" in Nevaeh's disappearance and murder.

Buchanan had been released from prison earlier this year after being convicted of a 2006 home invasion. She was living in a Monroe, Mich., apartment with her daughter and mother when Nevaeh disappeared.

"I didn't think it was a crime to have my child around someone," she told the Detroit Free Press, later adding that "If George wanted to do that, he would have done it a little sooner. That's the way I feel. But I could be wrong."

She told the newspaper that she had known Kennedy for a couple of years and met Smith through him a couple months before her daughter disappeared. And while she was aware of Kennedy's sex offender status, she only guessed the same of Smith because of the men's association.

3-Year-Old Found Safe, Mother and Sex Offender Arrested
In the kidnapping of a little Wisconsin boy earlier this year, the 3-year-old's mother was arrested and charged with child neglect after her babysitter, Joseph Rivera, took off with her son.

Rivera, who had been convicted of second-degree sexual assault in 2003, was found in a motel room with the unharmed boy and marijuana and THC.

The boy's mother told police that Rivera had sent her text messages threatening to take her son. But Rivera told police he only took the boy because he was upset with the child's mother for leaving him home alone for several hours, according to the police report.

As for Haylee Donathan, her grandmother just wanted to know she was alive. Mary Watson said she's already prepared for the attention and counseling her granddaughter will likely need when she comes home.

http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmFiY25ld3MuZ28uY29tL1VTL1N0b3J5P2lkPTc5MDcxMTEmcGFnZT0x

Carl Courtright sentenced to life!

Granite City sex offender sentenced to life

Associated Press
9:48 PM CDT, July 17, 2009

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A federal judge has sentenced a Granite City man to life plus 10 years in prison for the production of child pornography and other offenses.

U.S. Attorney Courtney Cox announced the sentence against registered sex offender Carl Courtright III on Friday.

After a five-day trial in March, a U.S. District Court jury convicted Courtright on one count of production of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of bank fraud.

The 37-year-old Courtright is believed to be the first sex offender in the country to be charged with new offenses stemming from subscriber information disclosed by the social networking Web site MySpace.

Teen Commits Suicide After Sexting

Her teen committed suicide over ‘sexting’
Cynthia Logan’s daughter was taunted about photo she sent to boyfriend

‘Sexting’ leads teen to suicide

March 6: 18-year-old Jesse Logan took her own life after a nude picture of her was passed around by e-mail. TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to her mom, Cynthia Logan, and Internet safety expert Parry Aftab about the dangers of “sexting.”


The image was blurred and the voice distorted, but the words spoken by a young Ohio woman are haunting. She had sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend. When they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls. The girls were harassing her, calling her a slut and a whore. She was miserable and depressed, afraid even to go to school.

And now Jesse Logan was going on a Cincinnati television station to tell her story. Her purpose was simple: “I just want to make sure no one else will have to go through this again.”
The interview was in May 2008. Two months later, Jessica Logan hanged herself in her bedroom. She was 18.

Conveying the message

“She was vivacious. She was fun. She was artistic. She was compassionate. She was a good kid,” the young woman’s mother, Cynthia Logan, told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Friday in New York. Still grieving over the loss of her daughter, she said she is taking her story public to warn kids about the dangers of sending sexually charged pictures and messages to boyfriends and girlfriends.

“It’s very, very difficult. She’s my only child,” Logan told Lauer. “I’m trying my best to get the message out there.”

It is a growing problem that has resulted in child pornography charges being filed against some teens across the nation. But for Cynthia Logan, “sexting” is about more than possibly criminal activity: It’s about life and death.

Last fall, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy surveyed teens and young adults about sexting — sending sexually charged material via cell phone text messages — or posting such materials online. The results revealed that 39 percent of teens are sending or posting sexually suggestive messages, and 48 percent reported receiving such messages.

‘She was being tortured’

Jesse Logan’s mother said she never knew the full extent of her daughter’s anguish until it was too late. Cynthia Logan only learned there was a problem at all when she started getting daily letters from her daughter’s school reporting that the young woman was skipping school.

“I only had snapshots, bits and pieces, until the very last semester of school,” Logan told Lauer.

After her picture was disseminated electonically, formerly upbeat Jesse Logan began skipping classes.

She took away her daughter’s car and drove her to school herself, but Jesse still skipped classes. She told her mother there were pictures involved and that a group of younger girls who had received them were harassing her, calling her vicious names, even throwing objects at her. But she didn’t realize the full extent of her daughter’s despair.

“She was being attacked and tortured,” Logan said.

“When she would come to school, she would always hear, ‘Oh, that’s the girl who sent the picture. She’s just a whore,’ ” Jesse’s friend, Lauren Taylor, told NBC News.

Logan said that officials at Sycamore High School were aware of the harassment but did not take sufficient action to stop it. She said that a school official offered only to go to one of the girls who had the pictures and tell her to delete them from her phone and never speak to Jesse again. That girl was 16.

Logan suggested talking to the parents of the girls who were bullying Jesse, but her daughter said that would only open her to even more ridicule.

“She said, ‘No, I need to do something else. I’m going to go on the news,’ and that’s what she did,” Logan said.

Finding Jesse

When Cynthia Logan decided to go public with her story, she told Lauer that a school official told a local television station that he had given Jesse the option of prosecuting her tormentors. “That was not so. It’s absolutely not true,” she told Lauer. “And if he did, why didn’t I get a notice in the mail that he gave her that option?”

Cynthia Logan is still contending with her grief over her daughter Jesse’s suicide.

After her daughter’s death, Logan quit her job and was hospitalized for a time with what she described as a mental breakdown. When she spoke about finding her daughter in her bedroom last July, tears coursed down her cheeks.

Jesse had been talking about going to the University of Cincinnati to study graphic design. Her mother thought she was over the worst of the bullying. Then one of Jesse’s acquaintances committed suicide. Jesse went to the funeral. When she came home, she hanged herself.

“I just had a scan of the room, her closet doors were open,” Logan told NBC News. “And I walked over into her room and saw her hanging. The cell phone was in the middle of the floor.”

Quest for justice

Logan said she’s been through six lawyers in what has so far been an unsuccessful battle to hold school officials responsible for the bullying of her daughter.

She was joined on TODAY by Parry Aftab, an Internet security expert and activist in the battle to protect teens from the dangers that lurk in cyberspace. Aftab said that there are laws that apply.

“There absolutely is a law,” Aftab told Lauer. “It depends on the age of the child. If somebody’s under the age of 18, it’s child pornography, and even the girl that posted the pictures can be charged. They could be registered sex offenders at the end of all of this. Even at the age of 18, because it was sent to somebody under age, it’s disseminating pornography to a minor. There are criminal charges that could be made here.”

Aftab said that it is normal kids just like Jesse who fall victim to the perils of the Internet and the easy exchange of information on cell phones.

“We talked about her being a good kid, a normal kid. Those are most of the ones that are sending out those images,” she said. “Forty-four percent of the boys say that they’ve seen sexual images of girls in their school, and about 15 percent of them are disseminating those images when they break up with the girls.”

Aftab asked Logan to join her in her fight against the electronic exploitation of kids. “I’m going to get her involved in a huge campaign to allow kids to understand the consequences of this and allow schools to understand what they need to do to keep our kids alive,” she said.

Aftab turned to Logan to see if she would help.

“Absolutely,” she said.

Logan Ohio Bus Driver Guilty Of Sexual Abuse Of Children

Ex-Bus Driver Pleads Guilty To Sexual Abuse
Saturday, July 18, 2009 7:21 AM

LOGAN, Ohio — A former bus driver pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that he sexually abused two young girls.

Morgan Monroe pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition.

"Had he went to trial on all the charges he would have faced significantly more," said Hocking County prosecutor Laina Fetherolf.

Monroe spent nearly 20 years working in the Logan-Hocking School District. He was a bus driver and custodian until his arrest in April, 10TV's Brittany Westbrook reported.

"I was really shocked," said parent Tracy Rose.

Rose's son is going to be in fifth grade, and she said at one time she applied to be a bus driver.
"Morgan trained me and he just didn't seem like... it was shocking," Rose said.

The district performed a background check on Monroe, but since he was never charged, nothing turned up, Westbrook reported.

Monroe will not be able to work at another school because of his current status as a sex offender.

In order to keep students safe, the school district said all of the buildings will have renovated security measures and the buses have cameras in the front and back, Westbrook reported.
Even so, Fetherolf said there is a reality that remains.

"There really isn't any way to know until they've been caught at least once," Fetherolf said.
Justice might only come from a brave victim's voice.

"I am hoping that if there are other victims of this particular defendant or other perpetrators that they will come forward so we can do whatever we can to help them," Fetherolf said.

Monroe did not come into contact with his victims through the district and Fetherolf said so far there is no indication that he abused any children in the district.

He could be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for more information


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Warren Ohio Predator Released To Another Predator

Sexual predator coming home
Prosecutor questions Warren man’s parole

By CHRISTOPHER BOBBY Tribune Chronicle
POSTED: July 18, 2009

WARREN - The Trumbull County prosecutor is questioning why the Ohio Parole Board would OK a prison release for a convicted sexual predator from Warren that allows him to live here with his brother - another sexual predator.

''He should only be released to an institution or halfway house where treatment is provided and required. One would never release a sex offender to another sex offender's care,'' prosecutor Dennis Watkins told parole officials in a letter earlier this week.

Watkins said in the letter he will challenge the July 27 release planned for Juan Wade, 46, who has served 23 years of a 7-to-25-year sentence.

The prosecutor's office was informed this week that Wade's approved plan for release involves him living in Warren with his brother Willie Wade of Bingham Avenue N.W. Watkins points out in his letter that Willie Wade recently was released from a prison in Georgia and is on parole after serving time on a rape conviction.

''I would request a hearing before his release to make sure that you have all the relevant information about his release in the community. According to forensic experts, Wade is a high risk to engage in a sexually oriented offense in the future,'' Watkins wrote.

Wade was sentenced July 30, 1986, by former Common Pleas Judge Mitchell Shaker after pleading guilty to three counts of rape that involved two girls and a boy. Wade was originally indicted on seven counts of rape and one count of child endangering involving five victims between the ages of 3 and 7.

Wade told a counselor and a clinical psychologist who examined him in 1999 that he was unable to cite specific reasons for the assaults, but he has taken sex offender programs in prison.

Currently in Lorain Correctional Institution, Wade ''does not take much responsibility for his deviant sexual behavior,'' according to the psychological report. The mental health experts labeled Wade a predator - a high risk to offend in the future - and say he should be required to continue in an outpatient sex offender treatment program.

Watkins said he believes that Wade was rejected for three other release plans, all of which include treatment programs.

''It's totally unacceptable for this defendant, a convicted sexual predator, to be released and placed to live with another convicted sexual predator in Trumbull County,'' Watkins said.

cbobby@tribtoday.com

Michigan releases sex offenders by the HUNDREDS

Early release of sex offenders from state prisons concerns victims, county law officials
By SUSAN YOUNGER staff reporter

LAPEER -- As the State of Michigan closes prisons and slashes prison populations to save money, those charged with the safety of the community are concerned with the early release of sex offenders into Lapeer County.

"The Michigan Department of Corrections is releasing criminal sexual conduct offenders by the hundreds from prison," said Lapeer County Prosecuting Attorney Byron Konschuh Tuesday. "It is my understanding they dropped 10 off on the courthouse steps today. Genesee County is getting over 130 and this is happening throughout the state. They're being released in Lapeer County, even if they didn't necessarily reside here prior to the crime or committed the crime in Lapeer County."

Michigan officials are still trying to balance the state budget, which has a projected $2-billion shortfall for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

More sex offenders are expected in the county, and the early releases are a recipe for disaster, Konschuh added.

"No one in the community knows this is happening," Konschuh said. "We don't know where they will be living. They're supposed to receive help to find jobs. With unemployment the way it is I'm concerned."

Adding to the problem, Konschuh and Director of Victim's Services Catherine Strong has no idea which offenders are receiving the early out dates and how many more will be in the county.

"It's my job to make sure they're not a victim again," Strong said. "I would hope to contact the victims, but I don't know which offenders are due for release. I was getting LEIN (law enforcement information network) sheets, but they're no longer forwarding them to us. Now I have to rely on the state doing their job of notifying the victim."

Strong and Konschuh recently helped two women file appeals in an attempt to keep the offenders behind bars. They had no idea the two were going to be released early; they were contacted by the victims.

A former Metamora woman, now 18, who was sexually abused when she was a juvenile by her stepfather, has left home. She is so frightened he will find her that she is hiding, said her mother Crystal Galloway.

"He was sentenced in 2002 to two counts of criminal sexual conduct to a person under 13," said Galloway, who has remarried. "He was sentenced to between seven and 30 years in prison. I got a letter Thursday saying he will be on the streets in September. He told people he was grooming my daughter to be his next wife. How can they let this happen to her?"

Another woman, who was raised in Lapeer County, left the state and has since remarried after her daughter was abused. Though she changed their names and left without a trace, her former husband found her while still in prison.

"He abused my daughter for almost eight years beginning when she was just over two years old," said the woman, who doesn't want her name used. "I am devastated. When you're a sex offender there is no cure."

Though he was supposed to be incarcerated for up to seven more years, the man could be on the streets in September.

"I haven't told my daughter yet," she said. "We don't want contact with him, and I don't want him around my children. I would not want to take the chance."

Konschuh and Strong will file applications for leave of appeal on behalf of any CSC victims to deter early release of sex offenders. Phone (810) 667-0326 if notified of a release.


Susan Younger may be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8122, or susan.younger@lapeergroup.com
Click here to return to story:http://www.countypress.com/stories/062809/loc_20090628090.shtml

Women in Crime Ink: One-Way Invitation to "Hell"

Women in Crime Ink: One-Way Invitation to "Hell"

Read Nicole's story of her assault from an internet predator.

Wanted Predator

January 08, 2009


Contact:
Supervisor Deputy U.S. Marshal Steve Jurman

San Diego Fugitive Task Force (619) 557-7111;

Public Affairs Officer Toni M. Wheetley (619) 571-2498;

USMS Headquarters Public Affairs (202) 307-9065

U.S. MARSHALS ASK FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE IN THE MANHUNT FOR 15 MOST WANTED FUGITIVE AND ALLEGED SEXUAL PREDATOR FREDERICK McLEAN

WASHINGTON – U.S. Marshals in Southern California are more determined than ever to bring Frederick McLean to justice. McLean, an alleged sexual predator, is on the run and U.S. Marshals believe his crimes are so heinous they earned him a spot on the Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted fugitive list in 2006.

“This fugitive has evaded capture for nearly three years, but he needs to know that we will never cease our efforts of hunting him down,” said George W. Venables, United States Marshal for the Southern District of California. “We are absolutely resolute in our commitment to bringing in Frederick McLean to face the charges brought against him.”

The San Diego Fugitive Task Force recently executed a search warrant and obtained new leads and updated photos on Frederick McLean.

Fugitive Frederick McLean, 57, is wanted on multiple counts of sexual assault on a child, but according to Supervisor Deputy U.S. Marshal Steve Jurman of the San Diego Fugitive Task Force, “multiple counts” is an understatement. Jurman explained, one alleged victim, now an adult, reported McLean assaulted her more than 100 times, starting when she was five and ending about seven years later.

“We believe McLean’s abusive acts against young victims span over a 20-year period, and are likely to continue until he is caught,” Jurman said. “It is imperative that predators like this be taken off the streets. Public assistance is one of law enforcements greatest assets and is essential to locating McLean.”

An arrest warrant was issued January 20, 2005, for McLean, but authorities believe he sensed his days of freedom were numbered almost six months prior.

In May 2004, family members confronted McLean regarding a young female victim’s allegations of molestation. McLean admitted they were true, and the victim’s family decided to call Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. After the confrontation, McLean’s wife and children left him.

He began liquidating financial assets and he signed divorce papers. In September 2004, McLean’s father-in-law woke up one morning to find McLean’s truck in his driveway. Inside the truck were McLean’s cell phone, letters for the family, and instructions on how to sell the vehicle. It was evident from his actions that he believed criminal charges against him were looming.

“Honoring the victims by arresting violent fugitives like McLean and making our streets safer is the main concern of the U.S. Marshals,” said Marshal Venables.

McLean is a 57-year-old white male who weighs 170 pounds and is 5 feet, 11 inches tall. He has brown/gray hair and hazel eyes. He is an auto mechanic by trade and once owned a race-car restoration business, specializing in racing cars from the 1960s and 1970s.

McLean is also an experienced outdoorsman and may frequent camping areas. McLean’s character traits include: being financially frugal, meticulous, organized, and probably pays by cash.

Investigators believe McLean may have assumed a new identity and could be using an alias name.

Authorities caution citizens to consider McLean armed and dangerous, and possibly suicidal.

There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of McLean, and all inquiries remain confidential.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact their nearest U.S. Marshals Service office, or call the Marshals’ 24-hour phone line at 1-800-336-0102.

U.S. Marshals are the nation’s primary fugitive hunting organization. Fugitive Task Forces lead by the U.S. Marshals capture thousands of fugitives each year. For more information on the U.S. Marshals and 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Frederick McLean, go to http://www.usmarshals.gov/.

Baby raper gets 110 yrs!

Springdale man faces life in prison after child porn conviction

Aug 28, 2008 07:28 PM EDT

Joseph Michael Rector

SPRINGDALE - A 56-year-old Springdale man could be sentenced to life in prison on child porn charges after a federal judge convicted him of six counts of receiving, posessing, and distributing child pornography.

Joseph Michael Rector, owner of Arkansas Home Elevators, was set for a jury trial, but asked the judge to decide his fate, instead. Nearly 200-thousand pictures and 2-thousand videos of sex acts with children ranging from infants to 6-year-olds were found by the FBI in his possession.

Asst. U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner said, "In Scott Ledford's investigation the children in Mr. Rector's collection were as young as infants."

56-year-old Joseph Michael Rector kept an external hard drive full of child porn pictures and videos hidden in his bathroom.

Jenner said, "...when he was not using it he had that kick place floor-molding nailed shut over it, so if you walked into the bathroom as a casual observer you would have no reason to think that there was contraband evidence on an external hard drive hidden in that bathroom."

Neighbors say they rarely saw him and never knew they lived in a neighborhood with that kind of person.

Jenner said, "194,000 still images just individual photos and the other was over 2,000 videos."

Among the thousands of pictures and videos in evidence-what was referred to by prosecutors as his prized possession-an encrypted DVD of Rector molesting a 6-year-old girl. During the trial Jenner told the judge she wouldn't even tell him the name he'd given the video-as the language was too degrading, offensive, and horrifying.

Jenner said, "...it would almost be significant enough that a juror might ask for psychological counseling as a result of having to see these images because they are so horrifying."

Rector was not tried in Arkansas for producing child porn[performing the actual sex acts with the children on video or in pictures]since he allegedly did that in the state of Oklahoma.

Jenner said, "He could be charged and will be charged in Oklahoma for the production of the pictures."

The FBI has reportedly called this case it's biggest child porn bust in Arkansas. Rector backed out of an earlier plea agreement for a 30-year maximum sentence-now he's facing up to life in prison for these six counts of child porn. His sentencing date likely won't be set for several months.


Springdale Man Sentenced To 110 Years On Child Porn Charge
POSTED: 3:50 pm CST January 9, 2009
UPDATED: 4:13 pm CST January 9, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Joseph Michael Rector, 57, of Springdale, was sentenced Friday on charges of producing child pornography, said Deborah Groom, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. Rector appeared in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville where Chief U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren sentenced him to 1,320 months (110 years) in prison. Rector was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and will be on court-ordered supervision for life if he is released from prison.

Rector was convicted on a six count indictment after a trial to the Court on Aug. 27, 2008. The charges centered around an investigation conducted by the FBI when it received information that Rector had shown photographs on his computer that he had taken of a minor female posed in a sexually explicit manner, Groom said.

Police searched Rector’s residence in Springdale, where they found encrypted computer files containing images of a girl younger than the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct, Groom said.

http://www.4029tv.com/news/18448975/detail.html

Immigration officer busted for having sex with 11 yr old and photographing the acts

ICE officer indicted on child-porn charge
By Maria Sacchetti
Globe Staff / January 10, 2009

A federal immigration officer was arrested yesterday for allegedly having sex with an 11-year-old child, and photographing the acts, while on official business in Brazil.

Michael Clifford, a 44-year-old immigration agent from Hull, was indicted by a grand jury on a child-pornography charge and ordered held without bail pending a hearing Tuesday. If convicted, he faces 15 to 30 years in prison, plus a fine of up to $250,000.

A woman at Clifford's house in Hull declined to comment.

Clifford, who escorted deported immigrants to their homelands, allegedly picked up the child late at night in March at an outdoor café in Rio de Janeiro, according to the US Attorney's office in Boston. He allegedly returned to his hotel, had sex with the child, and photographed the child involved in sexual acts.

The hotel's security camera showed Clifford entering the hotel with the child late at night and then sending the child out of the hotel the next morning, the US Attorney's office said. The photographs were seized at his home in June. Yesterday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement saying that Clifford was placed on leave after the agency received a complaint last year, and is now suspended without pay. He has worked for the US government for more than 15 years, said spokeswoman Paula Grenier.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Professional Responsibility in New England are investigating.

Clifford's arrest follows two recent immigration-related investigations in New England.

Last month, Lorraine Henderson, Massachusetts' top federal border official in charge of stemming drug smuggling and illegal immigration, was arrested on charges that she hired illegal immigrants to clean her Salem condominium.

This week, seven workers at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, R.I., were punished in connection with the death of a 34-year-old Chinese immigrant, Hiu Lui Ng, who was held there for 25 days until he died in August of cancer. The facility denied that the actions resulted in his death, but said the employees were disciplined for failing to follow unspecified policies and procedures. US Immigration and Customs has withdrawn all 153 immigrant detainees from the facility and is investigating the death.

Another blonde teacher having sex with a child

South Shore teacher accused of statutory rape

January 9, 2009 01:50 PM
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

BROCKTON -- Police described an Abington elementary school teacher today as an obsessive predator who allegedly seduced a 13-year-old boy and carried on a sexual relationship that lasted for 18 months.

Christine A. McCallum, 29, had become like a surrogate mother to the teen, who was being raised by a single father, prosecutors said today. That relationship allegedly progressed to snuggling and kissing after McCallum plied the boy with alcohol. Then on Feb. 7, 2006, she allegedly had sex with the teen for the first time, said Assistant Plymouth District Attorney Michael Scott.

The boy, who is now 16, told police that over the next 18 months he and McCallum had intercourse every other day for a total of "approximately 300 times," according to a police report filed today in Brockton District Court. She gave him a cell phone so they could communicate, authorities said, and wrote him a series of letters that while not overtly sexual depicted an obsessive woman in the throes of an intimate relationship with a teenager.

"We truly believe that this person was a predator," said Chief David Majenski of the Abington Police Department, speaking at a press conference. "I would hope there are no other victims, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out."

McCallum has been charged with seven counts of statutory rape stemming from seven alleged sexual encounters that investigators said they were able to document. She appeared in Brockton District Court today with her husband of five years, Scott, at her side and pleaded not guilty to the three counts that allegedly occurred at the teen's home in Abington.

McCallum was released on personal recognizance, outfitted with a GPS monitoring device, and ordered to report this afternoon to Hingham District Court, where she was arraigned on the remaining charges. The other four counts of statutory rape allegedly occurred in Rockland, where McCallum lives.

"These are very disturbing allegations, especially when they involve someone who is in a position of public trust within a school," Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said after the brief hearing. "I'm concerned about the victim in this case, I'm concerned about a 13-year-old child because that's what you are when you are 13 -- you are a child."

Defense attorney Frederick McDermott disputed the prosecution's facts and said there was no evidence that his client ever had sex with the teen. McCallum had become like a surrogate mother to the boy, McDermott said, and the relationship never progressed past that point.

McCallum holds a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts, her lawyer said. On her Facebook page, the native of Coventry, RI, says she earned her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in 2002. McCallum is a 1997 graduate of Coventry High School, said her Facebook page. Her husband is a 1994 graduate of the same school.
McCallum began working for the Abington School District as a tutor and paraprofessional during the 2006 academic year, according to Abington Schools Superintendent Peter G. Schafer.

McCallum was fired on Thursday from her current position as a fifth grade teacher at Woodsdale Elementary School, according to Schafer, who would not discuss the details. The allegations are "of great concern and we will be fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation," Schafer said in a telephone interview. "We do everything humanly possible to create the safest environment for the children."

McCallum met the alleged victim at the Abington Public Library when she began tutoring his younger brother through the school district, prosecutors said today. The alleged victim was never one of McCallum's students.

In the letters that McCallum allegedly wrote to the victim, she pledged her love for him and urged him to keep their relationship secret, according to Assistant Plymouth District Attorney Michael Scott, who read excepts aloud today at her arraignment.

"There's no question I will choose you over this job," McCallum wrote of her teaching position. "That's a very easy decision."

In a message sent to the boy from her MySpace page, McCallum wrote: "It's hard to be in love with you and set boundaries for you. It's hard to kiss you and tell you no."

The boy's father discovered the letters in 2006 and was disturbed but did not think that McCallum and her son had a sexual relationship, according to Chief John Llewellyn of the Rockland Police Department.

"He couldn't comprehend that this person was a predator," Llewellyn said.
The defense, however, disputed that the letters included any evidence of a sexual relationship between McCallum and the boy. McDermott said the letters showed only that she had served as a surrogate mother, a relationship that ended in July 2007. McCallum caught the boy stealing liquor from her home, McDermott said, and when she tried to impose boundaries, they stopped talking.

Recently one of the teen's friends told his mother about the alleged sexual relationship. That mother told the teen's father, who went to police. McCallum was arrested on Thursday.

Edwin Toomey, 12, attended the Center Elementary School in Abington when McCallum worked there.

"I thought she was awesome" Tooney said, who was interviewed with his father's permission. "She was cool, she wasn't like other teachers ... she was kind of, like, young ... she was very pretty."

His father, Robert Toomey, said he also knew McCallum through the school. "She was professional. She had a solid reputation as far as I'm concerned," Robert Toomey said.

Are they Sex Offenders, or just STUPID?

Dear Friend-

I'm sure everyone had heard in the news of teenagers taking nude pictures of themselves and sending it to other teens. This is starting to be a huge problem. Not only are these teens setting themselves up for embarrassment, but they are risking the chance of thier pictures getting on the internet and into the hands of pedophiles.

Preteens Unknowingly Contribute To Child PornSacramento County Sheriff's Department Finds Images On Sex Offenders' Hard Drives
http://www.kcra.com/news/18019985/detail.html

Not only are they risking becoming victims of child porn, they are also risking becoming sex offenders themselves.

Teens are now being charged with disseminating child pornography, and the reciepients of thier pictures are being threatened with child pornography charges also!

Teen Girl Faced Child Porn Charges for E-Mailing Nude Pictures of Herself to Friends
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/teen-girl-faces.html

These are not just isolated cases...

My question to you is,
Should teens be charged as sex offenders for sending nude pictures of themselves?

I have already spoken with a Senator on this issue, and I am interested in creating a law that specifically deals with this.

Are these kids sexually deviant, or just stupid?

How much of a price should they have to pay for what they have done?

A few thoughts to ponder before you answer:

This law should have gender equality, meaning you cannot treat the boys any different than the girls.

There are victims with this crime!
1) the picture taker is making themselves a victim of child pornography (but is it illegal and punishable to make yourself a victim on purpose)
2) The person who gets the picture has been forced to view "porn" - if they wanted to or not. Could this cause the person to have any emotional damage?

Are these children sex offenders, or should they be charged with a non-sex crime?

What would you like to see done with this law?

Tracy Golden
WASP Ohio
www.waspohio.org
waspsnest@yahoo.com
.
Be Proactive, And Not Reactive !
Women Against Sexual Predators

No faith is exempt from sexual abuse

Rabbinic Molesters Issue Moving Agudah

David Zwiebel of Agudah says he is closely watching emerging details of proposed sex abuse legislation in the Senate and Assembly.

by Larry Cohler-Esses

The recent rash of cases in which rabbis have allegedly molested young children going back decades has moved one group that usually bristles at government involvement in Orthodox schools to envision shifting its stance.

“Our general sense is that we’re much better off when government leaves us alone,” said David Zwiebel, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America for government and public affairs. “But because of the sensitivity of this particular issue, I could see the possibility of our rabbis affirmatively encouraging schools to buy into the system, and even maybe affirmatively encouraging government to impose it on us.”

Zwiebel was speaking specifically about a new law that will, for the first time, allow non-public schools to voluntarily take part in a program to
fingerprint school employees for use in criminal background checks.

But for Agudah, an umbrella organization of ultra-traditional Orthodox groups that seek a degree of insulation from the secular world, it was a striking statement.

To be sure, Agudah contemplates no welcome mat for a mandatory government fingerprint program just yet. That would be “quite premature,” said Zwiebel. Agudah, he said, wants first to see how the state implements the voluntary law.

But in an interview with The Jewish Week, Zwiebel, with whose organization many in Albany check first on legislation involving the Orthodox community, appeared to offer a wary road map to supporting greater oversight by the government on issues relating to sexual molestation of children.

The pressure for increased government involvement has been building for years. It began with the shocking emergence earlier this decade of Catholic priests who, it turned out, had molested children under their care for decades, and had often been protected by their Church superiors.

More recently, credible allegations have emerged here in New York against a small number of yeshiva rabbis said to have also sexually abused their students over several decades. The alleged victims — often now adults — have also charged that the yeshivas and rabbinic supervisors were informed about their teachers’ conduct but did nothing, or even protected them.

Now, state Assembly Member Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), who has become deeply involved in this issue, speaks of hearing “hundreds” of reports of rabbinic sexual abuse — reports that appear to him to be credible. This week, speaking at a conference on this controversy, Hikind for the first time numbered these reports in the “thousands.”

Slowly, and somewhat erratically, the state legislature has begun to take up the question of legal reforms to address this situation. The fingerprinting law passed last year will permit non-public schools to voluntarily take part in a program that is already mandatory for all public schools.

But some lawmakers hope to go further next year, with legislation to make non-public school participation mandatory. They also want to pass a bill that would make clergy and non-public school officials “mandated reporters” — individuals required by law to report to the authorities any information or evidence they receive that a child has been abused or molested in a school setting. Public school officials are already required to do so, thanks to an education law passed in 2000 that excluded the private school sector.

Another bill, now stalled by differences between the Assembly and Senate, would extend the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of molesters and for civil suits to be filed against them. Presently, prosecutors cannot go after a child molester once the child in question reaches age 23. And a child victim of sexual molestation must sue his molester — or a school that fails in its duty to protect him — for civil damages by between one and six years after he turns 18, depending on the nature of the allegation. But experts say child victims can take many years, or even decades, after they reach adulthood to process what was done to them and act on it.

Agudath Israel does not oppose any of these measures in principle, Zwiebel said. But God is in the details. And one red flag for the group is disparate treatment.

“It’s never been our position that non-public schools should be treated differently than public schools,” when it comes to protecting children, he said. “But our position is that they should not be singled out.”

This led Agudath Israel to vigorously oppose a 2003 proposal that would have required members of the clergy and certain categories of religious educators and administrators to go to the authorities with any information they had received about child abuse by other clergy over the last 20 years.

Inspired by the continuing revelations coming from the Catholic Church, the bill singled out the duty of these religious workers to report on their colleagues — but not on sexual abuse from other sources.

In a memo then to leaders of the state Assembly and Senate, Zwiebel denounced the legislation as “patently unconstitutional” for its “apparent assumption that religious functionaries, more than any other element of society, are inherently suspect — and should therefore be subject to special legal scrutiny and reporting requirements — regarding allegations of child abuse.”

Since then, critics have frequently denounced Agudath Israel’s stand as obstructionist and cited its opposition to this bill as evidence of an intent to shield rabbinic abusers. Condemnations on the Internet against the group have been especially angry and intense.

But Zwiebel said that if the Legislature were to introduce a bill that simply included non-public school officials in the duty to report evidence of abuse of students in a school setting, as public school officials already must do, “At a minimum, I am pretty certain we’d advise our friends in the Legislature we don’t oppose this.”

As for efforts to expand the statute of limitations, whether criminally or civilly, “I don’t imagine we’ll oppose any of that” either, Zwiebel said. “Whether we would affirmatively push it, I can’t answer.”

Indeed, legislation on this appears to be stuck between the State Senate and the Assembly. And according to a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County), it is opposition from the Catholic Church and the insurance industry that is playing a role.

The Assembly’s bill would significantly extend both the criminal and civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse going into the future. But the Democratic-dominated Assembly is determined to also give those now beyond the civil statute of limitations a key back into the courts. Its bill would establish a one-year “window” for adults with allegations of childhood abuse to file suit, regardless of when the abuse took place.

Skelos’ spokesperson voiced concern about this provision, citing the potential difficulties of obtaining evidence in very old cases. The Senate, he noted, has passed three different bills to eliminate or extend the criminal statute of limitation. But it has refused to pass the Assembly’s bill. The Assembly, in turn, has held fast against the Senate’s bill.

Meanwhile, the regulations have yet to be published for implementing the law passed last year that would allow non-public schools to opt in on fingerprinting and criminal background checks of its staff.

Zwiebel made clear that Agudah’s willingness to accept a bill to make this mandatory for non-public schools will depend on how the voluntary program goes.

One regulation under consideration, he related, would institute a “roach motel” principle: Once a school chooses to opt in, it will not be allowed to opt out.

“I’m troubled by that,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like wise public policy.”
Another proposed rule would mandate that a school opting into the system must require every employee to be fingerprinted, without exception.

“I don’t understand that part of it,” he said. “It would allow us no discretion to [exempt], say, certain veterans about whom there have never been any questions from a criminal background check.”

Still, he said, “I’m not necessarily implying those two rules would push us away. I’d like to know exactly what the details are.”

In many cases, Zwiebel said, Agudah’s views have been misrepresented. He pointed, among other things, to an error in a recent Jewish Week story — since acknowledged — that stated the group opposed a mandatory fingerprinting law and another to make yeshiva officials mandated reporters.

But referring to disturbing exposes that have appeared in this paper and elsewhere, he said, “Some of the anguish and pain that has come in the last few years, though uncomfortable, promotes consciousness of a problem that’s been in the shadows. So, though our views have been misrepresented, I can’t say [the critics] are bad people. They obviously care a lot about this issue.”

Hella Winston contributed to this story.

Prisoners proud they beat child molestor to death

Prosecutor: Accused Jailhouse Killers 'Proud Of What They Did'
Defense: Accused Were Looking To Intimidate, Not Maim Inmate

INDIO, Calif. -- Lawyers representing four of five men charged in the killing of a fellow inmate told an Indio jury Wednesday that their clients did not intend to kill the convicted child molester, but wanted to intimidate him into seeking protective custody to get him moved.

But prosecutor Anthony Orlando disputed the defense version of what happened at Chuckawalla State Prison near Blythe on June 21, 2005, saying two of the defendants beat Michael Green so savagely that he never regained consciousness, and all five were in on the plan and "proud of what they did."

Security was tight as the trial got under way at the Larson Justice Center for Robert James Deffenbaugh, 27, Frank George Barbosa, 55, Jack Stewart Woller, 23, Reggie Allan Bullock, Jr., 25, and Johnnie Dalerae Johnson, 29.

Nine sheriff's deputies positioned throughout the courtroom of Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan.

Green suffered severe head trauma when beaten in a bathroom in the C Yard, 7 building, according to court documents. He was transported to Palo Verde Hospital in Blythe and then moved to the critical care unit at a UC San Diego hospital, where he remained unresponsive.

The 45-year-old Los Angeles man's family made the decision to take him off life support systems several days later.

The prosecutor told jurors that many offenses are accepted by the general prison population, but convicted child molesters are "in trouble."

Orlando said it's routine for prisoners to ask a new inmate for "paperwork" when they arrive in the yard, which he said Deffenbaugh and Woller did to the victim.

Green told them he did not have his papers, but information that he was in custody on a child molestation conviction was passed on to Barbosa, the "shot- caller," who then ordered Bullock and Johnson to "take him out," the prosecutor alleged.

That night after "last count," Bullock and Johnson followed Green into the bathroom and savagely beat him, Orlando alleged.

Bullock's attorney, Melanie Roe, said the case is not "black and white" and has two parts -- the assault, and what she contended was delayed -- and lacking -- medical care to Green.

"There are no eyewitnesses to this incident, and stories vary," Roe said in her opening statement.

She told jurors that "evidence will show no person charged intended to kill him (Green)." Instead, the intention was to get him moved to another facility to finish out his sentence, she said.

John Patrick Dolan, who is defending Woller, said his client was on hand when Green was approached and asked for "paperwork." Woller was silent or "maybe said a few words as he stood around," the attorney said.

Dolan said his client, who is doing time for a car theft conviction and had been due to be paroled in a few months, did nothing wrong. He was following an "honor among thieves or a code of honor," where inmates ask for paperwork to determine the bottom order -- child molesters and rapists, the lawyer said.

"The intention of asking (is) to get them ... to ask for protective custody," which would remove them from interacting with prisoners who consider child molesters the lowest type of criminal, Dolan said.

James Silva, who is representing Barbosa, denied his client was the "shot caller," as alleged by the prosecution.

"Barbosa is not guilty of conspiracy with any of these individuals," Silva told jurors. "He did not give the order to assault Green."

Johnson's attorney, Cameron Quinn, said his client was a "short- timer" who, at the time of the attack, was soon to be released.

"It did not make sense for his to subject himself to this," Quinn said.
The attorney told jurors that placing a child molester in the general prison population tends to "stir things up."

Quinn said the term used by inmates is to "roll up" someone they want moved -- but that means to "rough up ... beat someone up to get him out, and not to kill them."

Deffenbaugh's attorney did not make an opening statement.

The trial, which is expected to last five or six weeks, is in recess until Monday, when testimony is scheduled to begin.

Child Molestors Referee Pennsylvania school games

Push on for refs' scrutiny
3rd bill introduced to alter PIAA rules
Thursday, September 25, 2008
By Bill Moushey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Another legislative bill intent on forcing registered PIAA athletic officials to undergo criminal background checks was introduced yesterday in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in Harrisburg. It is the third to be introduced this week.

State Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, citing recent Post-Gazette reports that showed child pornographers, molesters and other criminals continued to officiate games despite convictions, introduced a bill with more than 50 bipartisan co-sponsors requiring background checks on all officials who participate in sporting events on school property.

"We must protect our children from child predators in Pennsylvania," DeLuca said.

His bill will be sent to the House Education Committee.

Brad Cashman, executive director of the PIAA, has said existing checks and balances over officials and their criminal records are adequate, stating the newspaper reports identified less than 1 percent of all WPIAL officials as having criminal records. He had no comment on DeLuca's filing yesterday.

"I don't care if it was half a percent, all you need is a couple of kids to be harmed, you can't make up for the devastation they'd go through the rest of their lives. If one person gets harmed because there is no oversight, it would be horrible," DeLuca said.

The PIAA will consider instituting background checks at its October meeting.

Chester the Molestor banned from Indiana parks

Ban on molesters in parks is upheld
Ruling in Plainfield's case considered key for Indiana communities with similar rules

By Bruce C. Smith
Posted: September 25, 2008

Plainfield won a key court decision Wednesday in the fight over banning sex offenders from parks, a case closely watched by other Indiana cities and towns with similar bans.

Although courts struck down an Indianapolis ban two years ago, Plainfield's ordinance is the latest in a series of narrower measures to survive court challenges. Lafayette and Michigan City enacted bans against individual sex offenders that have withstood court review.

Greenwood enacted a ban similar to Plainfield's two years ago, and a suit over the constitutionality of that ordinance has been on hold pending the outcome of the Plainfield case. Another suit is pending concerning a ban in Jeffersonville.

The Indianapolis ordinance prohibited convicted sex offenders within 1,000 feet of a park or school. A federal judge found the ordinance overly broad, noting there were few places in the city that were not within 1,000 feet of a park, a school, a playground or other children's gathering spot.

Indianapolis officials chose not to appeal the ruling, and the City-County Council has not discussed trying to draw up a new version that might survive in the courts.

On Wednesday, the appeals court, in a unanimous ruling, said that while Plainfield's ban does have a punitive aspect, the ordinance did not violate guarantees to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness under the Indiana Constitution. The ruling upholds a March decision by Hendricks Superior Court Judge Robert Freese in favor of Plainfield.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed suit in November 2005 on behalf of a Marion County man identified only as John Doe, claiming Plainfield's ordinance was unconstitutional on several grounds.

The ACLU had argued that enjoyment of the parks is a core value under the Indiana Constitution, and that banishment from the parks is a second punishment for a crime.

"Obviously we're disappointed because we felt this ordinance is impinging on constitutional rights," said ACLU Legal Director Kenneth J. Falk.
A decision on whether to appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court will be made within a few days, he said.

Town officials praised the ruling.

"We're pleased with the outcome and a 3-0 vote by the court," said Plainfield Town Attorney Mel Daniel. "We all know how very important the parks are in Plainfield, and how adamant the town is to keep them clean and safe for the kids."

Under Plainfield's ordinance, people listed publicly on the state registry of sex offenders are prohibited from going into town parks and recreational areas. People with convictions for such crimes as rape, child molesting and incest must register with the state.

The man identified as John Doe is a convicted sex offender who was released from probation in August 2004. According to the lawsuit, Doe and his son visited Plainfield parks until June 2005, when a policeman recognized him and knew he was on the state registry of sex offenders.
He told Doe the town ordinance bans anyone on the state's online registry of convicted sex offenders from being in the parks.

Doe sued Plainfield, setting off three years of twists and turns in the legal case. In one key development, Doe won a court ruling to keep his identity secret in the legal proceeding, even though he is listed publicly on the sex offender registry.

Pennsylvania man busted for child porn

Lower Pottsgrove man pleads guilty to child porn charges

By Carl Hessler Jr., chessler@pottsmerc.com
09/25/2008

NORRISTOWN — A Lower Pottsgrove man has admitted to possessing child pornographic images on his home computer.

Mark A. Neiva, 33, who listed an address in the 1300 block of Walnut Ridge, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of sexual abuse of children, possessing child pornography, in connection with a November 2007 incident.

President Judge Richard J. Hodgson deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Neiva. The judge will use that report to assist him in sentencing Neiva later this year.

Neiva faces a possible maximum sentence of 3 ½ to seven years in prison on the charge.

Neiva also must undergo an evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board to determine if he meets criteria under Megan's Law to be declared a sexually violent predator. Those classified as predators face more stringent restrictions under Megan's Law, including a lifetime requirement to report their addresses to state police and mandatory counseling.

Neiva remains free on bail pending his sentencing hearing.

An investigation of Neiva began in November 2007 when a woman who shared access to Neiva's laptop computer reported to Lower Pottsgrove police that she and a friend discovered inappropriate images of female children on the computer, according to a criminal complaint.

Township detectives turned the computer over to members of Montgomery County's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who conducted a forensic examination of the computer. Detectives discovered numerous images of child erotica and child pornography on the computer, according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lower Pottsgrove Detective Sergeant Michael Foltz.

When detectives searched Neiva's home, they seized compact disks that contained additional images of child pornography, court documents alleged.

Under state law, by pleading guilty to the charge, Neiva admitted that he possessed or controlled computer images that depicted a child under 18 years engaging in a prohibited sexual act or in the simulation of such act.

Man breaks in PA. home and assaults teen, also charged for assault on 6yr old.

Milton man faces new sexual assault charges

MILTON — A Milton man charged with allegedly taking sexually explicit photos of a 16-year-old girl now faces charges that claim he also assaulted a 6-year-old girl.

On Thursday, police withdrew charges against Thomas B. Flynn, of 362 Wall St., and filed a new array of charges.

Flynn was arraigned before District Judge William Kear of Milton on charges of photographing a sexual act with a child, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault, burglary, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by force and indecent assault of a child younger than 13.

Kear reportedly raised Flynn’s original bail from $75,000 to $150,000 and placed him in Northumberland County Prison, Sunbury.

Police were called to Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg, on Sunday where the 16-year-old was being treated.

Flynn allegedly entered her home at around 3 a.m. Sunday and took photos using a cell phone camera of the 16-year-old while she pretended to be sleeping. The girl reportedly told police Flynn allegedly pulled down her pajama bottoms as he took photos. Police said they found the photos saved on his camera.

After filing the initial charges against Flynn, police later discovered he allegedly assaulted the 6-year-old by placing one of his hands in her pajama bottoms.

A preliminary hearing has been set for March 6.

Man busted for downloading child porn in a fire station

Milton man faces child pornography charges

MILTON — A Milton man accused of having 10 pornographic images of children and nine videos on his laptop computer was arraigned Monday before District Judge William Kear.

Thomas A. Dreistadt, 21, was charged with nine felony counts of sexual abuse of children and nine felony counts of possession of child pornography.

Dreistadt was stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard in California when the charges were pressed. He was detained and held by U.S. marshals before being transported back to Pennsylvania.

According to reports, police were tipped off that Dreistadt was downloading child pornography using the wireless Internet service at the Milton Fire Department.

Police subsequently seized Dreistadt’s laptop and allegedly found images identified as child pornography.

The Milton man reportedly lived at the fire station for a brief time.

Early reports from the arraignment indicate Dreistadt is maintaining innocence and claiming someone else must have used the computer to download the illegal images.

Dreistadt was locked up in lieu of $25,000 bail. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 2.

50 yr old Texan busted for child porn

Greenville man convicted of child pornography charges

12:10 PM Tue, Sep 16, 2008

A 50-year-old Greenville man has been convicted of possessing child pornography and faces up to 30 years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney's office said today.

Steve Kelby Samples, 50, was charged with transporting, shipping and possessing child pornography after an undercover FBI agent downloaded child porn images from Mr. Samples' computer in September 2006, said Kathy Colvin, of the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas. In January of last year, federal agents seized a computer containing child pornography from Mr. Samples' Greenville residence, Ms. Colvin said.

Mr. Samples pled guilty to the possession charge last month and was convicted last week on the other charges, Ms. Colvin said.

In addition to prison time, Mr. Samples could face up to a $500,000 fine at his sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18 before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.

Authorities said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national program intended to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.