Ex-therapist to serve 2-10 years for sexual assault

By ART AISNER
The Ann Arbor News

Thomas Higgins doesn't fit the typical profile of a criminal, much less a sexual predator.

ELIYAHU GURFINKEL, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS
Thomas Higgins appears in court as he is sentenced Monday to two to 10 years in prison.

His advantaged upbringing, advanced academic degrees, strong family support and established career in one of the University of Michigan Health System's reputed programs all point to an exemplary life, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Melinda Morris said Monday.

But they also set the stage for a horrific betrayal of trust - one that has led to a prison term of at least two years for the 68-year-old former social worker, Morris ruled.

"All these qualities that you had to show you as an upstanding individual also gave you the ammunition and the tools to commit your crimes," Morris said while sentencing Higgins to two to 10 years in prison. "If this isn't predatory conduct than there is no such thing."

Higgins, a social worker with U-M Health System's Traumatic Brain Injury Program, pleaded guilty in January to 11 counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a mental health professional and one count of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

His victims, three women ages 29 to 48, were all brain injury patients who disclosed past sexual abuse during therapy sessions. Investigators said Higgins used that information, under the guise of being a sexual therapist, to exploit the women for his own sexual gratification.

When he pleaded guilty, Higgins admitted to fondling the women's breasts and buttocks. But investigators from several police agencies said the abuse was far more severe, ranging from oral sex to intercourse in his office and the victims' homes.

Each of the women described the mental anguish they suffered and the difficulty they had in coming forward during victim's impact statements Monday.

"I used to have a very hopeful and positive outlook about my future and the world in general," said one victim who sought treatment after a car crash. "Now, because of the abuse .... I battle depression and feelings of hopelessness constantly. I do not think I'll ever be able to completely trust any counselor."

Another woman said she's just beginning to understand the long-term affects of the abuse.

"His dredging up of memories of my prior rape caused me to become so severely depressed that I attempted suicide," she said. "The progress I had started making in dealing with my disabilities in the Traumatic Brain Injury Program has now been lost. I am emotionally and financially devastated."

Despite the troubling accounts, Morris said she would abide by the sentencing agreement reached after months of negotiations between prosecutors and attorneys representing both Higgins and his three victims.

Higgins sat with his attorney and looked straight ahead while the women read their statements just a few feet away.

"I'm truly sorry for what I've done, and I'm ready to accept my punishment," he told Morris during his only remarks.

Higgins appeared in court with about a dozen family members, close friends and members of his church. Many of his supporters sent letters to Morris indicating the incidents were moments of weakness and an aberration from Higgins' typical conduct.

But Morris agreed with prosecutors that the evidence showed his actions were more of a habit than an anomaly.

The state has suspended Higgins' social work license while an investigation is under way, attorneys said. A civil suit filed by the women against Higgins and the U-M Health System is pending.

N.C. man charged in child porn

Marlon A. Walker

(Raleigh) News & Observer

BURLINGTON --

Ronald White's criminal record lists a nearly 24-year-old charge for running a red light as his lone brush with the law.

But now the 59-year-old faces up to life in prison, accused of being part of what FBI investigators call one of the most intelligent child pornography operations they've ever seen.

White, along with 13 other men in the United States, is accused of participating in an international ring that produced or traded more than 400,000 images and videos of child pornography. Department of Justice officials said that since August 2006, the men had been using sophisticated encryption methods to avoid detection by law enforcement.

The network operated on an Internet newsgroup, which, according to a federal indictment, uses a network of computers to enable file sharing.

Two men, from Pennsylvania and Texas, were arrested Feb. 29 on criminal complaints in the case.

Once law enforcement investigators gained access to the group, they watched as members traded photos and uploaded items onto the group board.

Little is known of White's alleged involvement in the network. Department of Justice officials did not answer questions about whether they think he was responsible for uploading images or video to the network.

Investigators said a person on the network, operating under the user name "Roadkill," commented on photos on Jan. 2, 2007, posted by another member of the network. Roadkill, according to the indictment, was White's user name on the network.

A car was outside White's home at 413 Piedmont Way in Burlington on Thursday afternoon, but no one responded to a knock on the door.

Included toddlers

Details of the indictment, unsealed in 1st District Court in Pensacola, Fla., on Feb. 29, detailed the alleged goings-on of network participants. Photos and video depicted children -- some as young as toddlers -- in various poses or scenes with adults. Network members commented with praise for the young children, including one girl who a member said "is to die for in those pigtails." Another man, a James Freeman from Florida, called the group "the greatest group of pedos to ever gather in one place."

A call to the FBI to find out whether victims identified in the images and videos were being sought was not returned.

Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said Thursday night that all the defendants were either being transported or were already in federal custody in Pensacola, Fla.

The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide effort to protect children from becoming victims of online exploitation and abuse. In all, 22 people were arrested from the U.S., Australia, Canada, England and Germany.

(News researcher Lamara Williams contributed to this report.)

Child Porn in Public Library

A man accused of viewing child pornography on a public-library computer was arrested after Lindsay police said they found child pornography in his home.


Police served a search warrant Tuesday at the home of Donny Lynn Chrisler, 39, in the 600 block of West Hermosa Street. Chrisler, detained earlier by police at the library, was arrested after police found "numerous items of child pornography" inside the home, said Lindsay Police Capt. Rich Wilkinson. The investigation began when police received an anonymous report that a man at the library was viewing child porn on a public computer there. Firewalls in the library's computer system normally block users from viewing Web sites with pornography, Wilkinson said, but in this case Chrisler was using a private e-mail account and transferring images to a computer disc.

Chrisler has a computer in his home but did not have access to the Internet, Wilkinson said. Chrisler's statements and computer use records led police to believe that the man had viewed child pornography at the library before, Wilkinson said.

The sexually-explicit images police said he viewed on the library computer — as well as those police say they found in his home, mostly on his computer — appeared to have been taken from Web sites. Most were of boys who appeared to be 18 or younger, they said.

There were no indications that Chrisler committed any illicit acts with children, Wilkinson said. Chrisler has no criminal record that police are aware of.

Besides being arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography, Chrisler was arrested on suspicion of participating in the production or presentation of obscene matter in public places. Viewing such images in a library or any other public place is a crime, Wilkinson said.

Marine to plead guilty in child porn case

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 11, 2008 11:50:12 EDT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A San Diego-based Marine will plead guilty in federal court to charges of possessing child pornography he obtained by e-mail.

According to papers filed Tuesday with the U.S. District Court’s Southern District, Daniel Joseph Tarchala will plead guilty in the case prompted by an investigation by the FBI’s “cyber squad.”

Tarchala, 26, is scheduled to appear May 27 before District Court Judge Marilyn Huff at San Diego’s downtown courthouse.

Tarchala was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and living in nearby El Cajon, Calif., when FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents first questioned him in October about child pornography he allegedly received from a Philadelphia-area man being investigated by the FBI, according to court documents. He is still on active duty with Marine Aircraft Group 11, but is “being processed out” of the Marine Corps, according to a Miramar spokesman. His rank was not immediately available.

Agents said they tracked Tarchala through his AOL e-mail account, with information the Internet company provided under subpoena for the user name “tarchusmc81,” which the FBI contends was the instant message account allegedly used to send the Philadelphia man pornographic photos and videos.

According to the federal complaint filed in court, Tarchala first denied any involvement but later “began to cooperate and advised that he has in fact sent and received e-mails containing child pornography” through his AOL account. A forensic search of a computer at his apartment found 991 images of child pornography, including 166 photographs and five videos, and the images include children under age 10 engaged in sexually explicit acts, the complaint states.

“Tarchala said it was stupid and that the reason that he looked at child pornography was because it was ‘taboo.’ He has been sending and receiving images/videos of child pornography for the last one-and-a-half to two years,” an FBI special agent wrote in the complaint.

Tarchala was arrested Jan. 28 and later released on $15,000 bond. He could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory registration as a sex offender.

Girlfriend Finds Child Porn; Man Arrested

Police said they took Luethke's computer as part of their investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A Lincoln man was arrested on Friday after his girlfriend found child pornography, police said.

Bradley Luethke's girlfriend found five DVDs containing child porn, police said.

The girls in the videos appeared to be between the ages of 5 and 14, police said.

Luethke, 37, was cited on suspicion of possession of child pornography.

Sex Offender

A sex offender is a person who has been criminally charged and convicted of, or has pled guilty to, or pled Nolo contendere to a sex crime.

Crimes requiring mandatory sex offender registration may include downloading pornographic material of persons under the age of 18, (child pornography), rape and even non-sexual offenses such as kidnapping.

The term sexual offender is a broad term, with sexual predator being used to describe a more severe physical or repeat sexual offense. Sexual offenders are also sometimes classified into levels [1], where the highest level offenders have the most aggravating crimes and thus, the most risk to the public and usually must register as a sex offender for their entire lives.

Low level sexual offenders may serve only a probationary sentence and only register for 10 years as well as having less restrictions placed on them compared to higher level offenders. As a label of identity it is used in criminal psychology.

Especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, the person, if convicted, is most likely required to register with the respective jurisdiction's sex offender registry, a county- or statewide database that is often public and accessible to everyone through the internet.

Predator captured was Fugitive of the Week

A convicted killer and rapist who calls himself "Candy" has finally been captured.

Jerry Malone, who hadn't been seen in a year, was caught in Toledo Friday by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force.


Malone, 63, was convicted of rape in 1964 and of murder and sexual battery in 1993.


He was profiled on Channel 3 News as the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive of the Week in December, 2007.


The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force considered Malone dangerous because of his extensive and violent criminal history.


"He has been involved in the criminal justice system since the 60's. He needs to be monitored and he needs to be brought back into custody quickly," said Deputy U.S. Marshal David Siler at the time Malone was profiled on Channel 3 News.


The law requires sexual predators to report their current address to the local sheriff and to maintain contact.


Malone did not and became a wanted fugitive.