North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force
Dr. Kardasz: Nice work by the North Florida ICAC Task Force.
---------------------------------------------------------------
High Springs, Florida - ICAC Local case leads to many sex abuse arrests
11/18/06, by Christa Desrets, Herald Writer
HIGH SPRINGS – What began as a single arrest of a High Springs man on sex crime charges in 2005 now has led to the arrest of five more people nationwide on related charges and an international effort for more arrests.
The information used to make the arrests came from the seized computer equipment of Gary James Norsworthy, 49, of High Springs, who was arrested in July of 2005 on charges of child pornography.
Norsworthy then was charged with 17 additional crimes, including attempted capital sexual battery of a child, voyeurism, video voyeurism and production and dissemination of child pornography.
He is now serving a 40-year sentence in prison.
After a long investigation and a forensic examination of Norsworthy’s computer equipment, child pornography images and more than 3,000 pages of chat logs were recovered and used as evidence for additional arrests, according to Gainesville Police Department Det. Mitch Nixon.
During the investigation, detectives realized that they were uncovering cases that dealt with individuals who were sexually abusing children and posting images on the Internet.
“The frightening thing about this is that all of these guys networked together via chat,” Nixon said. “They even went as far as to have live Web-cam views while abusing children.”
Nixon is the coordinator of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Based out of the Gainesville Police Department, the task force is one of 46 task forces nationwide that strive to work together to solve such cases.
He said that the arrests were a collaborative effort that began with the High Springs and Gainesville police departments and the Santa Fe Community College Institute of Public Safety.
After High Springs police officers were able to get the evidence that they needed to charge Norsworthy, they handed over the evidence to the ICAC unit, according to Det. Sgt. Gordon Fulwood with the High Springs Police Department.
“We were able to obtain all the information that was needed for the ICAC unit to follow up on throughout the country and get these children out of harm’s way,” Fulwood said. “It was truly a team effort.”
The investigations that continued involved hundreds of law enforcement officers from municipal, county and state police departments as well as national offices including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“We do not have the manpower or the expertise to follow that up,” Fulwood said. “They (ICAC) did an excellent job. Numerous accolades need to be given to them.”
Although police often had only an Internet chatroom screen name from which to base their cases, Nixon said, officers were able to work together to make five arrests.
Officers concentrated on arresting those individuals who were actively involved in the sexual abuse of children.
The defendants come from five different states, and their occupations ranged from a construction worker and a jewelry maker to a man in the Army and a second grade teacher.
“All of them had indications that they actually had live victims,” Nixon said. “The kids range in age from 15 years old down to 15 months old.”
Another man from Kentucky who was suspected of sexually abusing his 15-month old son while broadcasting live over a Web-cam committed suicide when he learned that police suspected him, Nixon said.
Also as a result of the investigation, police filed a sworn complaint against John Patrick Shannon, a previous associate dean from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, on charges of possession of child pornography.
Aside from the five arrests, Nixon said, police also have leads in four more states and one foreign country.
But police believe they have arrested all who were suspected of abusing children, he said. Any additional arrests likely will be on lesser charges, such as possession of child pornography.
“There’s still investigations ongoing with this, but were at the point now where we can release the information without jeopardizing our investigations,” Nixon said.
And more clues keep coming in, he said. At least one of the arrests already has led to additional investigations that could lead to more charges.
Fulwood said he is proud that the High Springs Police Department was able to have a part in the arrests of so many alleged criminals.
“This was something that was a lot larger than we first thought it was,” Fulwood said. “We’re left with the feeling that we were able to make an impact nationwide. But it’s all due to the agencies coming together and working toward a common goal.”
Retrieved November 19, 2006 from http://www.highspringsherald.com/articles/2006/11/17/news/news03.txt