Dr. Kardasz: The following report shows that child pornography is not a victimless crime and also demonstrates the continuing need for responsible citizens to step forward and report child pornography. In the case reported below, a roomate of the offender discovered child pornography and had the courage to report it, resulting in the arrest and conviction of a dangerous offender.

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A Las Vegas Pediatrician was sentenced to two consecutive 20-life terms in a Clark County District Court.

On December 4th 2006, David G. Evans, a 34 year old Las Vegas resident and Pediatrician was sentenced to Two consecutive life terms by Judge Nancy Saitta.

The investigation into David Evans began in December 2004, when his roommate discovered images of Evans engaged in sex acts with a local boy from the Big Brother program on Evans' computer.  The roommate contacted LVMPD ICAC and filed the complaint.  The investigation lead to the identification of the local boy who was presently 10 yrs old.  During the forensic interview of the boy it was learned that the acts occurred in Las Vegas as well as nude pictures being taken of him while on a camping trip with Evans in California.

A forensic exam of Evans' computer located a family member in California that Evans was abusing as well.  It was documented in  E-Mails between Evans and other like minded individuals that Evans was  informing those like minded individuals to get involved with the Big Brother Program so they could locate a boy to prey upon just as he had.  Evans had hundreds of child pornography images on his computer as well as documented E-Mails from other like minded individuals who discussed
their victims and the abusive acts they were perpetrating upon them.

A joint investigation with local FBI Agents assigned to the Innocent Images Program assisted with Evans being charged in Federal Court as well.  Evans was charged in Federal court with the pictures he had taken of the physical abuse he committed on the local boy, as well as some of the images of the family member from California.  Evans was sentenced two weeks ago in Federal Court to 27 years and 3 months.

Evans was charged at the State/Local level for the physical acts of abuse he committed on the local boy.

The Clark County District Attorney working the Assistant United States Attorney for Nevada worked out a plea in which the local victim did not have to relive the incidents by testifying in Court.  The local victim has been going to counseling for almost two years and is still trying to put his life back together.  Evans Federal and State sentence will run concurrent.  Once Evans completes his Federal Prison sentence he will be remanded to a Nevada Prison to complete the remainder of his State
sentence.

Evans still has a case pending in California reference the family member and he is expected to receive a jail sentence for those crimes as well.

Due to the teamwork, cooperation and communication between all the agencies involved in the investigation, Evans should never be allowed outside a prison or abuse another child again.

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 06:14 PM | Permalink

By Luke Jennett, Messenger staff writer, 12/28/06

The Internet offers numerous avenues through which predators can seek victims, including such sites as MySpace and Facebook.

Kurt Allen Olson, 48, of Rutland, spoke at his sentencing hearing in Cedar Falls Dec. 18. He apologized to his friends, family and the court. He said he was very embarrassed by the choices he’d made and that he would try to earn back the respect he lost in June, when he was arrested in Cedar Falls for attempting to meet with a young girl for sex.

From May 15 to June 1, Olson was talking through an Iowa-themed romance chatroom through Yahoo messenger, using the name ‘‘Ice Blue,’’ to a person whom he believed was a 15-year-old girl. After weeks of conversation, Olson arranged a meeting with the girl, leading up to it by asking about her sexual experiences.

The young girl turned out to be an investigator with the Cedar Falls Police Department, one of three local members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. When they arrested him in Cedar Falls, the divorced father had a notebook with him showing that he’d kept up conversations with several underaged girls, although Black Hawk County officials said it was unknown whether or not he intended to meet with them.

Olson pled guilty and was given a suspended sentence of five years, with two to five years of suspended probation and a suspended fine of $750. He was ordered to comply with sex offender treatment and will be added to Iowa’s sex offender registry.There are 64 registered sex offenders in Webster County, most residing within the Fort Dodge city limits.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 30 million children under 18 use the Internet, almost half of the total underaged population of the United States. Iowa is one of eight states, according to the NCMEC, that is successfully prosecuting cases of online enticement without specific language in its code. Three ICAC members who are with the Cedar Falls Police Department are continually running investigations like the one that caught Olson. The officers, said Charity mcdonald, assistant county attorney of Black Hawk County, troll the chats in addition to their other duties, presenting fake bait for potential offenders in their spare time.

The threat

Imagine five kids. It shouldn’t be too hard; think of a neighbor’s children, or a family member’s, or your own. Imagine you put five of them in a room and asked them if they’d ever been sexually solicited online. In 2000, statistics say one of the five would have raised their hand.

The first Youth Internet Safety Survey, done by the University of New Hampshire with the backing of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, looked at kids from 10 to 17, and did phone interviews of 1,501 youths. They found that one in five received a sexual solicitation over the Internet in the last year, and one in 33 was aggressively solicited by someone who asked to meet them somewhere, who called them on the telephone, sent them mail, money or gifts. One in four had had an unwanted exposure to pornography. Only a fourth of the kids who were solicited told a parent about it.

A second study was done in 2005 to test for changes in the patterns first observed in the study. Researchers uncovered some good news; the average percent of kids who’d received solicitation had fallen — to one in seven. An improvement, but perhaps not much of a comfort. Meanwhile, unwanted exposure to pornography had risen to one-third of those surveyed.

The report attributed the decline in sexual solicitation to more cautious behavior on the part of cyber-capable kids and their parents, with fewer hanging out in chat rooms with people they don’t know. This may have been a benefit of educational and media reports about online dangers, the study said.

But the most serious kinds of sexual solicitation, where predators attempted to make outside contact with youth, did not decline, the study said.

The response

‘‘We’re not going to arrest our way out of this,’’ said Mike Morris, supervising special agent with the Division of Criminal Investigation. Morris is the local head of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, an agency that provides training and information to both police and social groups who work at combating sexual predators online. Morris’ department does computer forensics, sifting through hard drives to find illegal photos or chat logs that can be used as evidence to put predators behind bars.

The task force also trains officers in proactive approaches, such as the methods used by the Cedar Falls Police Department to snag Olson. But one of the Task Force’s most powerful tools is education. Although ICAC investigations have resulted in 38 arrests this year, cyberspace is too big, and its access points too widespread, for police to protect everybody all the time. Children, Morris said, have to be taught the dangers of the Internet before they are allowed to wander along the superhighway by themselves.

‘‘At some point, you have to teach your kids to go to the mall by themselves. You have to teach them to go to the swimming pool by themselves. You should teach them to use the Internet the same way. Until they can use it safely and responsibly, you’ve got to be there.’’ Morris said the number of people reached by the group’s educational outreach programs was staggering; he said they’d done 270 programs and spoken to 15,249 students, parents and community group members.

Arrests for Internet crimes against children are on the rise, Morris said, owing to the fact that higher awareness among users and better techniques by police are attacking the problem better than in the past. ‘‘It feels like there’s a lot of anonymity on the Internet, but it’s not quite there like you think it is,’’ he said. ‘‘A lot of it is traceable.’’

The law

These sorts of sting operations weren’t always legal in Iowa. Legislation in the 2001 Iowa Acts changed the language of the Iowa Code, which was previously set up to protect only actual minors who were the targets of enticement. The new language included those who reasonably believed they were enticing away a child under the age of 16, with stricter penalties if the child was under 13.

Derek Johnson, a Fort Dodge attorney, said that the change in the law allowed police to perform such investigations. While the measure is preventative in nature (the point, presumably, is to catch offenders before they locate a real-life minor to exploit), the language of the law allows for it.

The enticement stings have been equated to entrapment, but the two are legally distinct, Johnson said. The Iowa standard for entrapment is for the defense to prove that a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have committed the crime. Since reasonable people do not arrange sexual liaisons with children, Johnson said, it would be difficult to prove in such cases. ‘‘The way I think about entrapment is, would the defendant have committed the crime if the police hadn’t done what they did?’’ said Johnson.

Contact Luke Jennett at (515) 573-2141 or ljennett@messengernews.net

Retrieved December 29, 2006 from http://www.messengernews.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=6064

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 01:44 PM | Permalink

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living, the other helps you make a life.

-Sandra Carey
(from Beliefnet.com)

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 12:43 PM | Permalink

By Brooke Chambers, Russellville Newspapers, Inc, 12/26/06

More than 200 videos featuring child pornography were removed from a Russellville home this week, and the man police said owned the videos was ordered held on $100,000 bond Wednesday. William Everett Phillips, 42, was a suspect in a federal investigation that ultimately involved local authorities in a search of the man's South Knoxville Avenue home where he reportedly lives with his mother. The search of the home, which is across from the Russellville High School, garnered hundreds of VHS and DVD films and several obscene pictures of children as young as 4 years old engaging in sexual activity, according to Russellville Police Officer Steve Barker. Barker, who is responsible for keeping track of the city's sex offenders, said all evidence found in the home Tuesday was turned over to the U.S. postal inspectors who initiated the investigation. Barker said Phillips would likely be facing a federal indictment early next year for allegedly distributing the obscene material. Locally, Phillips is facing charges of possessing the child pornography and is expected to appear in Pope County Circuit Court Jan. 29.

District Judge Don Bourne, who set the man's bond Wednesday at the Pope County Detention Center, ordered him to stay away from anyone under the age of 18 should he bond out. He included the man's current residence as a restriction because of its proximity to the high school. If somebody sees you near a child, or on a street where there's a school, you'd better have a good reason for being there or you'll be put back in jail if you make bond, Bourne told the man during his hearing. The man's mother and sister looked on Wednesday as Barker testified about the alleged materials found in Phillips bedroom, including a detailed description of at least one of the videos.

Barker said some of the videos had hand-written labels on them, and others appeared to be purchased. The officer told the judge, however, he was unaware of any potential victims in the investigation of Phillips. Phillips told Bourne he did not work, but received Social Security for a disability. He said he had no prior felony convictions and was a life-long Pope County resident. On the state level, possessing child pornography is a Class C felony punishable by 3-10 years in prison. The Pope County Sheriff's Office and Arkansas State Police assisted in the local investigation.

The postal inspector who operates out of Houston, Texas was apparently monitoring the suspect's mail when a pornographic video tape featuring minors was sent to the man through the mail, Barker said.

Retrieved December 26, 2006 from http://couriernews.com/

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 04:50 PM | Permalink

The holidays will bring many new computers and many new Internet users around the world.

The Internet provides tremendous opportunities for positive advancements in communication, education and commerce. Unfortunately, the Internet is also used to facilitate many crimes, including various forms of criminal sexual activity. Among the most disturbing Internet crimes are those committed against children. The luring and enticement of children by Internet sexual predators is a disturbing phenomena. Also disturbing are the millions of images of the sexual degradation of children that are trafficked by persons who derive sexual gratification from viewing images of child sexual abuse.

In 2006, about 147 million Americans were Internet users (PEW, April 26, 2006). Curious and unsuspecting youngsters are flocking to the Internet seeking friendship and information but are instead sometimes encountering sexual deviants and predators. One study (Wolak & Finkelhor, 2006) showed that one in seven young Internet users were enticed by predators who solicited them during their on-line activities.  The law enforcement investigators who assume on-line undercover identities for the purpose of apprehending predators report that there is no shortage of potential offenders lurking in chat rooms and social networking sites.

Offenders post innocent profiles on social networking sites to facilitate their hunt for potential victims. Most sites permit users to register without any proof of their true identity and this makes the sites a haven for molesters who can pose as harmless confidants while hiding their true intent. Law enforcement has recorded many incidents of registered sex offenders who have created on-line profiles portraying themselves as inoffensive individuals seeking romance without reference to their malevolent pasts.

As police and educators struggle to meet the demands for improved enforcement and increased crime prevention training, ultimately parents must act decisively towards protecting their children. The responsibility is shared by the schools, libraries and businesses that now provide free and widespread access to the Internet.

Three Internet  crime prevention tips:

1. Monitor your child's Internet activity. Know who your child is communicating with.

2. Employ the restriction and filtering features that may be available from your Internet service provider. The features can restrict your child from visiting certain non-approved sites and can restrict offensive language.

3. Install monitoring software that captures Internet activity. Such software can be enabled to work surreptitiously, or, you may decide to inform your child that the software is being used.

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References

PEW, Internet & American Life Project. (April 26, 2006). Internet Penetration and Impact. Retrieved December 21, 2006 from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/182/report_display.asp.

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Online victimization of youth: Five years later. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Bulletin - #07-06-025. Alexandria, VA. (CV138). Retrieved December 23, 2006 from http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2529

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:59 PM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: The following story is a sad example of a public servant who gave someone a break and was then unfairly villanized and forced to apologize after being falsely accused of racism. As they say, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Unfortunately, the overall public image of law enforcement will never be as high as some of the other "helping" occupations. Police have the unenviable task of bringing people to justice; and some won't go peacefully. Some offenders will be brought to justice and then, to save face, will blame everybody except themselves for their misdeeds. That's not to say all cops are perfect, because they're not, they are human too. But the nature of the police function will always make the occupation a potential target of derision.

Many law enforcement agencies have special video services units that spend thousands of tax dollars filming police activities in order to attempt to create positive public images of the police. The filming activity described in the story below obviously backfired. Why don't we put some of these video services monies back into the tasks that police are supposed to be doing, to wit: making arrests and keeping the peace. Attempts to continually manipulate the pubic image of the police until they receive 100% approval ratings will fail until all police officers are tasked only with the jobs of smiling and waving and not with the jobs of making arrests and keeping the peace.

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Police Sgt. apologizes for rap request

The Arizona Daily Star, 12/22/06 / The Associated Press

Tempe, Arizona - A Tempe police sergeant has apologized for a television program that showed him asking two black men to perform a rap song to get out of a littering ticket.

"Nothing I did on that day, or nothing I've done in any day of my 25 years as a police officer, or nothing in my 48 years of being a human being, was ever driven by race, by the color of a person's skin or anything of that nature," Sgt. Chuck Schoville told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday.

Schoville, a 25-year department veteran, stopped two men in August in a mall parking lot after seeing a motorist toss a paper bag from his window.
The stop appeared on a segment of "StreetBeat," which showed Schoville talking to the men about the consequences of littering and asking them to perform a rap song to avoid a ticket.

Schoville said he talked to the men for about five minutes before the camera started rolling. He said he told the two men, Louis Baker and Robert Tarvin, that if one of them picked up the trash, he wouldn't give them a littering ticket. He also said he talked to them off-camera about how they were music producers and aspiring rappers, which led to his asking them to rap.

While Schoville said he hasn't spoken with Tarvin or Baker since the incident, he did meet with local civil-rights leaders.

He said the discussions he had with them were "productive, worthwhile and well worth it."

The Rev. Jarrett Maupin, president of the National Action Network in Arizona, met with Schoville on Monday night at a Tempe restaurant.

"During the meeting, I had the opportunity to begin to know the real Chuck Schoville," Maupin said. "He is a man of sincere service and integrity." But Maupin said that doesn't excuse what happened on tape. He said that Schoville's conduct was not representative of Tempe and that Tarvin and Baker are looking into taking legal action. "The words, phrases, and questions he chose to use demonstrated his failure in handling the situation in a professional manner," he said.

On Wednesday, authorities said Schoville would not be disciplined, but that the department would have to undergo diversity training, and the police-produced "StreetBeat" will be taken off the air for a few months until checks and balances can be developed. "And hopefully it'll never happen again," Tempe police spokesman Jeff Lane said.

Retrieved December 23, 2006 from http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/161480

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 12:35 PM | Permalink

By Roy Frusha, news@theadvertiser.com,

All police officers should have knowledge of constitutional law, weapons, arrest techniques, report writing and handcuffing. Intangibles that cannot be taught are also valuable. An old trooper once told me that police work was mostly common sense and good judgment.

Louisiana State Police narcotics agents used to meet annually with Mississippi agents to coordinate efforts at locating marijuana fields along the Mississippi River and to establish contacts for future investigations that crossed state lines. We flew light planes and helicopters. Once, after flying all day, there were seven of us in a Natchez motel room establishing relationships when the telephone rang. A Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics pilot answered and told the other party he had the wrong number. After heated conversation he said, "This is room 148, not 248. If you don't like it, come down here, and I'll kick your tail to Vicksburg." Although he spoke with purpose, he weighed about 125 pounds. About 15 minutes later, a guy who looked like Andre the Giant let himself into the room without invitation. He was not intimidated by a room full of cops. "Which one of you midgets said he was going to whip me?" he said. Six of us pointed at the little pilot. Good judgment. The pilot, with his north Mississippi drawl, stated: "Now, if I had known you were that big, I wouldn't have talked to you that way." The pilot was a quick thinker. The big man couldn't help but laugh, and all of us were relieved. There are other judgment issues that are not as humorous.

I've known police officers who lost careers for having affairs with informants, using drugs, stealing seized drug money, abusing the public, using their badges for personal gain, protecting drug dealers and even spying on subordinates.

I've witnessed cronyism at its worst. More than once, I saw a trooper go from governor's driver to the top levels of state police. One even bragged he never took a promotional exam.

Political tinkering and power brokering is a formula for disaster. The best system for promotion is a merit-based appointment system that puts qualifications ahead of political connections and friendships.

The result is always the same; political cronyism corrodes the integrity of the system and diminishes the organization - and the community suffers.

A little common sense and good judgment go a long way.

Roy Frusha is a former commander of the Louisiana State Police Narcotics Division.

Retrieved December 23, 2006 from http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/OPINION/612220320

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 12:28 PM | Permalink

Internet sexual predators and child pornographers present daunting new challenges for law enforcement. Offenders who victimize children find the Internet to be a nefariously invaluable tool for seeking victims and trafficking unlawful images. Since the meteoric rise of the Internet in the 90's, law enforcement has been slow to respond to the growing threats from sexual predators and child pornographers. More cops are needed to fight this battle.

The basic elements of the Internet crimes of child pornography and of enticing minors are still not taught at most law enforcement training academies. Very few police agencies devote full-time staff to Internet sex crimes even though studies indicate that Internet use has hit an all-time high.

In 2006, about 147 million Americans were Internet users and frighteningly, each day, one in seven young Internet users were enticed by predators who solicited them during their on-line activities.

By comparison, circa 1900, police traffic enforcement units had already begun to emerge at a time when there were only 8,000 cars on the roads and the nations population was only 76 million.

Law enforcements' response to crime is often motivated by that which can be seen and counted. Internet crimes however, are quiet and invisible to the public, unlike the results of an automobile accident that can be viewed by anyone happening by.

Today, if one in seven drivers were aggressively smashing into other cars, public pressure and the insurance industry would have law enforcement officers standing at the ready on every street and intersection. The U.S. has thousands of traffic-cops roaming the roads every day, how about some more cops on Internet-patrol protecting kids?

Dr. Kardasz can be contacted by e-mail at: kardasz@kardasz.org

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 10:24 AM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: For more information about the ongoing problems at our nations public libraries see http://kardasz.org/libraries_preferential_offenders.html

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Chicago, Illinois - Convicted Sex Offenders Have Free And Legal Access To Pornography At Libraries

Dave Savini, 12/21/06, (CBS)

Chicago, Illinois. Most parents don't think twice about sending their kids to the library - but is it really a safe place?

Thirty-three sex crimes were committed at Chicago's Harold Washington Library alone in the last three years, and that's according to library records.

Also disturbing, convicted sex offenders using libraries to access porn, and maybe even to find victims.

CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini exposes what's going on in "Library Confidential".

"What's occurring at the library is sickening," said Tom Hanson.

Online pornography is so clear and evident at Chicago libraries that we could actually see a patron looking at porn simply by standing on a city street and looking through the window.

When asked what he would say to someone offended by his viewing pornography in such a public way, one library patron said, "I am sorry and I won't do it no more."

But what he did was legal because there are no guidelines against viewing pornography at Chicago libraries.

Even convicted sex offenders can use those computers to access sexually graphic images.

Hanson says earlier this month at the Mount Greenwood library he saw Michael Connelly looking at pornography online.

The 2 Investigators found out Connelly is a registered sex offender, convicted in 2002 for soliciting sex online from someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

"It's an issue of protecting our children," Hanson said.

A father who chose to remain anonymous said he agrees.

"He put my daughter on his lap and start[ed] fondling [her]," he said.

Last year his 4-year-old daughter was in the children's section of the Harold Washington Library when registered sex offender Norman Woolfolk sexually abused her. He was later convicted.

Woolfolk and others like him can enter a library at any time.

"It's drawing these people in because they get free access to material," said David Smith of the Illinois Family Institute.

The Illinois Family Institute is a lobbying group that wants sex offenders banned from libraries.

"It's only going to get worse if we don't do something to circumvent it now," Smith said.

In Philadelphia, Brian McCutheon had a history of watching porn and exposing himself at the library.

Then in 2004, in the library bathroom, he tried to rape and nearly killed an 8-year-old girl.

"It's becoming a cesspool for porn and child molesters and sex offenders," Hanson said.

The 2 Investigators obtained three years of internal incident reports from Chicago public libraries.

They reveal sex crimes ranging from flashers to inappropriate touching, and sex acts in bathrooms and men viewing child pornography online.

One-third of the offenses involve people masturbating while at computers.

Other reports include a registered sex offender caught masturbating, another sex offender and his friend trying to take a boy's picture and a man looking at porn while carrying a knife and handcuffs.

"A lot of parents let their children go to the library and do their homework and they have no idea what is going on up there," Hanson said.

Police are called in some cases, but not others.

A couple disrobing in a locked bathroom stall was arrested, but some men caught masturbating in plain sight were simply asked to leave for the day.

"Maybe some people make light of things, but what happens when a child gets abducted and gets killed?" Hanson asked.

We repeatedly tried to get an interview with Chicago Public Library officials. Instead, a spokesperson gave us a statement saying the library policy "... Is to call the Chicago Police Department when anything criminal happens."

Also, when staff members fail to properly handle incidents and don't call Chicago Police, they are retrained.

CBS 2 Investigators talked to registered sex offender Michael Connelly about viewing pornography in a Chicago library. He says what he did was legal.

When state lawmakers are back in session, officials from the City of Naperville will be pushing for a new Illinois law to ban sex offenders from public libraries.

CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Retrieved December 21, 2006 from http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_355221218.html

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 08:43 AM | Permalink

Casper, Wyoming man faces child porn charges

By Tom Morton, Star-Tribune staff writer, 12-20-06

A Casper man has been charged with possessing and attempting to distribute child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court last week.

If convicted on both counts, Brett Swenson, 1426 Cody Ave., faces between five years and 30 years imprisonment, according to the penalty summary in the document filed in U.S. District Court.

Officers went to his home Nov. 11 following an undercover investigation of his computer activity by the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, according to the criminal complaint.

The task force works with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI to investigate criminal violations of federal and state child pornography and child sexual exploitation laws.

FBI agent Todd Scott, assigned to the task force, obtained a search warrant from Natrona County Circuit Court Judge Steven Brown on Nov. 11 and searched the house along with ICAC agents and Casper Police officers.

When officers arrived Swenson was sitting in his car in front of his house.

First, he told officers he didn't know much about computers. Then, he told them he used his computer to play games, and then he added he also downloads music.

Finally, according to the complaint, he told officers he downloaded images of child pornography in order to provide them to local law enforcement officials.

Agents seized a Hewlett Packard Pavilion 700 computer, CDs and floppy diskettes, 12 hard drives, one thumb drive, and VHS tapes.

Agents gave the evidence to DCI Special Agent Flint Waters to conduct a forensic analysis of the computer and its Western Digital hard drive.

By Nov. 27, Waters had recovered 924 images of what appear to be child pornography and an additional 116 images of child pornography depicting children know by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.

The images include pictures of adult males engaged in sex acts with prepubescent females, and one image of bondage of a young teenage female.

A warrant was issued Dec. 11 for his arrest. He was arrested Thursday and was being held at the Natrona County Dentention Center as of Tuesday morning.

The federal government will seek pretrial detention of Swenson because the case is a crime of violence, and because of the serious risks of flight and of obstruction of justice.

Swenson is scheduled to appear for his preliminary hearing, arraignment and detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich in U.S. District Court in Casper at 11 a.m. today.

Swenson could not be reached for comment because his phone number could not be determined.

Reporter Tom Morton can be reached at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@casperstartribune.net.

Retrieved December 21, 2006 from http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/12/20/news/casper/0a00d4c6d80b495f8725724a00071c45.txt

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 05:43 PM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: Stories of theft, like the one below, make me wonder about the amount of money or property that someone would risk their career over. In the story below, apparently the amount was $3,000.00.

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New Orleans police arrest veteran officer

December 19, 2006. The Associated Press

An eight-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department has been arrested on theft charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Kelvin Jackson was arrested Monday night by investigators with the department's public integrity bureau. He was booked with theft and possession of stolen property valued at approximately $3,000.00.

The alleged incident occurred at a Wal-Mart Superstore.

According to investigators, store officials called police and said that Jackson was seen on their video surveillance camera placing stolen merchandise in his personal vehicle, while working a paid authorized security detail.

Public integrity officers reviewed the tapes and positively identified Jackson as the suspect, police said. They obtained a search warrant for Jackson's home where they found the stolen property, authorities said.

Jackson, who was assigned to the Fourth District, was arrested and booked without incident and immediately resigned.

Retrieved December 20, 2006 from http://www.dailycomet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/APN/612191748

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 08:29 PM | Permalink

IPods, MP3 music players and the video display devices that use files downloaded from the Internet are susceptible not only to infection by viruses but also to the surreptitious installation of pornography disguised as harmless images or music files.

Those who wish to share pornography can easily rename a pornographic image or file with another name that would make the file appear to be harmless music or video.

Law enforcement will never have sufficient resources to monitor every image and file trafficked across the Internet.

The following tips might help prevent viruses and pornography from infecting electronic devices.

• Anti-virus programs should be used on all computers and kept up to date. Keep in mind however, that while anti-virus programs will help prevent damage to important data, they will not filter out pornography.
• Parental monitoring programs and “spyware” can help parents monitor and track their children’s computer use. Some programs can be set to filter out objectionable language and curse words, but the programs will not be 100% effective in filtering out all pornography.
• Parental oversight is the only effective way to prevent children from being exposed to pornographic images in files downloaded from the Internet. Parents must supervise each download and review it’s contents if they want to be sure that their children are not exposed to pornography.

 
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"Think of the Internet like an endless big-city street. On one side of the street are educational opportunities, businesses and kind friendly people. On the other side of the street are pornographers, identity thieves, cyber-bullies and fraudsters. Would you let your child walk alone down that street?"

Dr. Frank Kardasz – Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

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For more Internet crime prevention information see:

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Web Site:

http://www.netsmartz.org/netparents.htm

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 07:04 PM | Permalink

AP Online. 12-13-06  
Boston (AP) - A former editor for the company that publishes the children's newspaper Weekly Reader was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison for soliciting sex from a minor. Noel Neff, 47, of Norwalk, Conn., was arrested in 2005 in a shopping mall parking lot. Investigators said he had arranged to meet with a 14-year-old boy for sex; the boy was actually an FBI agent who had been exchanging instant messages with Neff for two months. A federal jury in May convicted Neff of using Internet to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 30. Weekly Reader Corp. is based in Stamford, Conn., and publishes several periodicals for students. The company fired Neff a few days after his arrest.

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Dr. Kardasz: This is another example of an offender who chose a line of work that might bring him into contact with young people.

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 10:24 AM | Permalink

Man faults 'other self' for porn: Convicted sex offender charged with access material at work

By Pat Reavy, Deseret Morning News, 12-15-06

A convicted sex offender formerly employed at Primary Children's Medical Center has been arrested and charged with downloading child pornography at work.
 
But the man says he has multiple personalities, and although he disapproves of child porn himself, one of his other personalities wants to look at it.

Kevin Edward Sutherland, 45, was charged with five felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Wednesday night. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance today. The investigation into Sutherland began a little over a year ago when the head of computer security for Intermountain Health Care contacted the Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, according to court documents.

By that time, Sutherland had been fired by PCMC. He worked at the hospital from April 1995 until Oct. 26, 2005, court documents state. His last position was in the parent resource center assisting the parents of patients. He never worked with the patients themselves, said Primary spokeswoman Bonnie Midget.

During his tenure, he also worked in food services and the business office, she said.

The security department said Sutherland's computer login was being used to access pornographic sites, including "young naked boys in sexual
poses," according to court documents. In September of 2005, Sutherland's computer login was used to access 990 adult and child pornography images, court documents state.

IHC security reported "consistent viewing of adult and child porn images throughout the month and on multiple days. User did unique searches," the document stated.

ICAC agents visited Sutherland's home on Dec. 7, 2005. He wasn't home, but his wife said she had an idea of why the agents were there.

She stated her husband, "is against child pornography and would never do anything to hurt children" and that he would "never access child pornography," according to court documents.

The case took a bizarre twist, however, when Bonnie Sutherland told the agents her husband was being treated by a doctor for a mental illness in which he manifests multiple personalities. "One of the personalities is a teenage boy," she told investigators, according to court documents. As the teenage boy personality, Kevin Sutherland only wanted to look at images of girls his own age, she told agents, according to court documents. Another of his personalities is a young male and "this personality wanted to look at images of child porn," court documents state. "(Bonnie Sutherland) stated that (Kevin) Sutherland has no memory of what the other personalities do when they take over his body," according to court documents. Bonnie Sutherland further told investigators that when her husband was off his medication and the other personalities took over, she had to tell them sternly to "go home" and his normal personality would return," court documents state.

Kevin Sutherland later talked to investigators and said that while he physically accessed porn on his work computer, "mentally it was not (himself,)" he stated in court documents. He said he had the personalities of a 13-, 14- and 16-year-old. The 16-year-old was named "Casey" and was "very sexual and self-destructive," according to court documents.

In 1986, Sutherland was convicted in New Hampshire for indecent exposure and lewdness involving a minor. His probation was later transferred to Utah. He was discharged from his probation in 1991.

All employees have background checks going seven years back from every city and state they have lived during that time, Midget said. The hospital also checks the Utah Sex Offender registry regularly, she said.

Sutherland was never on the registry during the time he was employed at PCMC. But even if he was, the attorney general's office said, because of the way the registry was set up in the early 1990s, the hospital would not have been able to check it. Convicted sex offenders were placed on the registry for only five years at that time. And the registry was only available to law enforcement agencies.

In this case AG spokesman Paul Murphy said the hospital "did everything right" in reporting Sutherland as soon as a problem was detected. The hospital, Midget said, has an "aggressive computer security system" that regularly screens for violations.

Sutherland's last known employment was at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in 2005. The hospital did not return calls placed Thursday by the Deseret Morning News, checking his employment status.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com,Deseret News Publishing Company 

Retrieved December 18, 2006 from
http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,650215233,00.html

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:35 PM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: I found these three great quotes at www.charactercounts.org 

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The older I get, the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do.
-  Andrew Carnegie

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
- Confucius

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 02:22 AM | Permalink

 Dr. Kardasz: The following news article describes an important step towards ridding MySpace of those registered offenders who are stupid enough to register using their true identities.

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MySpace to use database to delete predators' profiles

By Mike Hughlett, Tribune staff reporter, 12/05/06

After several embarrassing media reports of sex offenders prowling around MySpace.com, the popular online hangout said Tuesday it will deploy new technology to boot predators from its pages.

While the move was widely applauded, some MySpace watchers question whether it will be effective because sex offenders can conceal their identity online.

MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is at the vortex of the highly charged issue of pedophiles prowling the Web.

There have been several reports of convicted sex offenders setting up MySpace profiles—without mentioning their crimes.

MySpace Tuesday announced a partnership with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to build a database containing the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders.

The automated system, due to launch in about 30 days, will comb MySpace for sex offenders, booting all traces of them from the site, said Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace's chief security officer. "They're deleted."

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, there are 593,000 registered sex offenders in the country. A recent Wired News report said that 744 registered sex offenders had MySpace profiles.

MySpace has about 135 million user profiles, about 70 million to 80 million of which are individuals.

To bolster its sex predator shield, MySpace is advocating legislation that would require convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses with federal or state authorities.

Over the past 10 years, most, if not all, states have adopted laws requiring convicted sex offenders to register their addresses with local law enforcement authorities.

However, a similar move with e-mail addresses would likely lead to opposition from Internet civil liberties groups fearing such registrations could set a bad precedent.

mhughlett@tribune.com, Chicago Tribune

Retrieved December 11, 2006 from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061205myspace,1,3109219.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 12:12 PM | Permalink

The sad advice of humorist-turned-ethicist Randy Cohen in his recent New York Times column (The Ethicist, December 3, 2006) stunned those of us in the small but growing army of law enforcement officials who investigate the millions of Internet-trafficked images depicting the horrifying sexual exploitation of children.

Cohen advised an Internet technician, “S.M.N of Vancouver”, not to report suspected images of child pornography found on the bosses computer. Cohen also advised that there is no legal duty to report.

The column was of interest to me for three reasons. As a fledgling student of ethics, my doctoral dissertation focused on ethics training for law enforcement. I am also the Project Director for the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and have supervised hundreds of child pornography investigations. Additionally, I have endured retaliation as an employee who reported official misconduct outside of the chain of command.

ETHICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Mr. Cohen's surprising advice to ignore suspected child pornography seems to invoke the lowly self-centered ethical principal of blind egoism where possible misconduct is quickly rationalized and ignored.

The advice to ignore possible child pornography seems to lack consideration for normative ethical principles such as benevolence, paternalism, honesty, lawfulness, justice and human rights. Sadly, as we witnessed in the Enron case and many other prominent business and government scandals, ethics in the workplace is somehow viewed as incompatible with ethics in other arenas. Notable among the differences are the focus on protecting business profits, company reputations and stockholders share prices.

If instead of a computer, the boss gave the employee a kitchen-knife covered with dried red fluid the day after his wife's mysteriously stabbing death, would the dried fluid be rationalized as probably ketchup and ignored? For some, comparing child pornography to murder is a stretch, but think about the murder of a helpless child's innocence at the hands of a sex offender who then memorializes the crime with images that may be trafficked forever on the Internet. Some say that the psychological damage to the child is a form of mental death.

Children's rights, sadly, are not part of the routine decision-making process in business, government or capitalist civilian life. Children cannot vote, they cannot call the police, and they are not stockholders. Children are widely disenfranchised and their human-rights are easily ignored.

UNLAWFUL IMAGES AND OFFENDERS

Child pornography is a serious crime, and the sexual exploitation of children is heinous.  When Morton Berger lost his appeal for a 200 year sentence for possessing child pornography in Arizona (see http://kardasz.org/Berger_Decision.pdf), the Arizona Appellate Court Judges echoed what the U.S. Supreme Court has also stated:

The possession of child pornography inflames the desires of child molesters, pedophiles and child pornographers.   

The use of children as subjects of pornographic materials is harmful to the physiological, emotional, and mental health of the child.   

The victimization of a child continues when that act is memorialized in an image. The materials produced are a permanent record of the children's participation and the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation. Unfortunately, the victimization of the children involved does not end when the pornographer's camera is put away.

The possession of child pornography drives that industry and…the production of child pornography will decrease if those who possess the product are punished equally with those who produce it.

Tough penalties will decrease the production of child pornography if it penalizes those who possess and view the product, thereby decreasing demand.

The State has more than a passing interest in forestalling the damage caused by child pornography: preventing harm to children is, without cavil, one of its most important interests.…we cannot fault the State for attempting to stamp out this vice at all levels in the distribution chain.

Possessors of child pornography are sometimes rationalized as harmless viewers of images and without the violence potential of contact, "hands-on" offenders. But a study of imprisoned possessors of child pornography by Doctors Hernandez and Bourke of the Butner, North Carolina Federal Correctional Center showed that a significant number of persons convicted of possessing child pornography also had previously undiscovered incidents of contact sex offenses with children. (see http://www.kardasz.org/HernandezPrisonStudy.pdf)

FEDERAL LAW

There is also a federal law that mandates reporting under certain circumstances. If the company that S.M.N. works for also provides wireless Internet access available for public use, the company may fall under the definition of an electronic communication service provider under U.S. Code Title 18, Part I, Chapter 119, 2510. The Federal law requires that electronic communication service providers report child pornography to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (Title 42, Chapter 132 Subchapter IV, 13032).

CASE STUDIES

I often receive calls from computer repair people and shocked spouses who encounter troubling images. My detectives or I can usually instruct the caller over the phone regarding what is, and what is not lawful, or, I can arrange to quietly send a detective out to view the images and make a determination as to their lawfulness. In some cases the reporting person quietly removes the computer from the home or workplace and my detectives examine it at another location.

I am reminded of two recent investigations involving IT professionals who bravely reported Internet sexual misconduct. My colleagues in the 45 other Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces throughout the United States have encountered similar cases:

In Arizona, an alert IT professional working for a medical firm noticed unusual Internet activity on a computer and traced it back to a neuropsychologist employed by the firm. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Dr. Steven Henderson who is now serving 17 years in prison for sex offenses with a minor.

In another case reported by an IT professional, a Phoenix man who worked at a day-care facility was arrested after it was discovered that he performed live web-cam molestations for the sick enjoyment of his other twisted Internet friends. The man is also now in prison.

WHISTLEBLOWING

Protecting those who cannot protect themselves is the obligation of every citizen. It is not enough just to do your blindly do you job. There's no special virtue in that. Democratic freedom isn't just an endowment, it is also a responsibility to the human rights of others.

Truth-telling is sometimes unwelcome. In Ibsen's play, An Enemy of the People, one of the characters says, "A community is like a ship, everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm."

Reporting misconduct is not easy and it takes courage. The late psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) described the highest stage of moral development as that of principled conscience, a belief system that permits a person to risk criticism in favor of protecting the rights of others.

At the Project Safe Childhood Conference in December 2006, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales quoted Martin Luther King Jr. who said, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” Attorney General Gonzales went on to remark, "That is still true today. For us to be silent on this issue is to fall short of our responsibilities as leaders of a battle to protect society’s most innocent and most vulnerable: our children."

If S.M.N. chooses to report and the employer retaliates, the retaliation may be a violation of one of the growing number of laws throughout the United States designed to protect employees who report criminal conduct. (see http://whistleblowerlaws.com/law.htm)

MY ADVICE

My advice to S.M.N. of Vancouver differs from Cohen's: Brave-up and quietly call a knowledgeable law enforcement official. The end results may be discomforting and possibly career-altering but you will sleep better at night, and perhaps a child somewhere will sleep better too.

Dr. Frank Kardasz (Ed.D) is a police sergeant in Arizona and the Project Director for the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He can be reached at kardasz@kardasz.org

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December 18, 2006

Dr. Kardasz: The following news item concerns a suspect who was identified as the result of information from an IT specialist.

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Man faults 'other self' for porn: Convicted sex offender charged with access material at work

By Pat Reavy, Deseret Morning News, 12-15-06

A convicted sex offender formerly employed at Primary Children's Medical Center has been arrested and charged with downloading child pornography at work.
 
But the man says he has multiple personalities, and although he disapproves of child porn himself, one of his other personalities wants to look at it.

Kevin Edward Sutherland, 45, was charged with five felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Wednesday night. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance today. The investigation into Sutherland began a little over a year ago when the head of computer security for Intermountain Health Care contacted the Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, according to court documents.

By that time, Sutherland had been fired by PCMC. He worked at the hospital from April 1995 until Oct. 26, 2005, court documents state. His last position was in the parent resource center assisting the parents of patients. He never worked with the patients themselves, said Primary spokeswoman Bonnie Midget.

During his tenure, he also worked in food services and the business office, she said.

The security department said Sutherland's computer login was being used to access pornographic sites, including "young naked boys in sexual
poses," according to court documents. In September of 2005, Sutherland's computer login was used to access 990 adult and child pornography images, court documents state.

IHC security reported "consistent viewing of adult and child porn images throughout the month and on multiple days. User did unique searches," the document stated.

ICAC agents visited Sutherland's home on Dec. 7, 2005. He wasn't home, but his wife said she had an idea of why the agents were there.

She stated her husband, "is against child pornography and would never do anything to hurt children" and that he would "never access child pornography," according to court documents.

The case took a bizarre twist, however, when Bonnie Sutherland told the agents her husband was being treated by a doctor for a mental illness in which he manifests multiple personalities. "One of the personalities is a teenage boy," she told investigators, according to court documents. As the teenage boy personality, Kevin Sutherland only wanted to look at images of girls his own age, she told agents, according to court documents. Another of his personalities is a young male and "this personality wanted to look at images of child porn," court documents state. "(Bonnie Sutherland) stated that (Kevin) Sutherland has no memory of what the other personalities do when they take over his body," according to court documents. Bonnie Sutherland further told investigators that when her husband was off his medication and the other personalities took over, she had to tell them sternly to "go home" and his normal personality would return," court documents state.

Kevin Sutherland later talked to investigators and said that while he physically accessed porn on his work computer, "mentally it was not (himself,)" he stated in court documents. He said he had the personalities of a 13-, 14- and 16-year-old. The 16-year-old was named "Casey" and was "very sexual and self-destructive," according to court documents.

In 1986, Sutherland was convicted in New Hampshire for indecent exposure and lewdness involving a minor. His probation was later transferred to Utah. He was discharged from his probation in 1991.

All employees have background checks going seven years back from every city and state they have lived during that time, Midget said. The hospital also checks the Utah Sex Offender registry regularly, she said.

Sutherland was never on the registry during the time he was employed at PCMC. But even if he was, the attorney general's office said, because of the way the registry was set up in the early 1990s, the hospital would not have been able to check it. Convicted sex offenders were placed on the registry for only five years at that time. And the registry was only available to law enforcement agencies.

In this case AG spokesman Paul Murphy said the hospital "did everything right" in reporting Sutherland as soon as a problem was detected. The hospital, Midget said, has an "aggressive computer security system" that regularly screens for violations.

Sutherland's last known employment was at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in 2005. The hospital did not return calls placed Thursday by the Deseret Morning News, checking his employment status.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com,Deseret News Publishing Company 

Retrieved December 18, 2006 from
http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,650215233,00.html

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 05:47 PM | Permalink

Internal Affairs System Found Rife With Misconduct

By Treach Gordon Fox, Courant Staff Writer, 12/05/06

A report on the Connecticut state police internal affairs unit has found the very structure designed to promote integrity within the department to be riddled with misconduct and improper influence.

Some of the 19 internal affairs cases investigated by the New York State Police may lead to criminal charges or disciplinary action against troopers involved in sexual assaults, domestic violence, drunk driving and larceny, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.

The report, which calls for an overhaul of the unit, prompted Gov. M. Jodi Rell to order an independent commission to oversee its reform and an outcry from other public officials to eliminate what some perceive as corruption within the state police.

The report points the finger at top managers and raises questions about the ability of the department's elite major crime squad to investigate criminal allegations that arose in some internal affairs cases. In several instances, the major crime squad failed to properly document or complete cases.

Public Safety Commissioner Leonard C. Boyle took responsibility for the problems outlined in the yearlong investigation. "I'm responsible for everything that happens and responsible for trying to fix it," Boyle said.

Blumenthal thanked state troopers who came forward "to make complaints about a system that is dysfunctional, in disarray, and ultimately discredited." "More importantly than what we call it is what we do about it," he said. He turned the report over to Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane for investigation.

Col. Edward Lynch, commander of the state police, who announced his retirement Friday, said the timing had nothing to do with the report. He said he is taking a job in the private sector.

Rell ordered Boyle to set up a commission that will include expertise from outside the state police to oversee systemic reforms. "This is necessary so that we may have an unbiased and professional group charged with transforming the internal affairs process," Rell said in a statement. "I am deeply concerned by the troubling practices exposed by this report and am firmly committed to reforms that will ensure they never occur again."

Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan, who has been critical of state police management, said Boyle properly called in an outside agency to do the investigation. "[The report] says there is a culture gap between the expectation of modern police management and the historical clubhouse nature of the state police," Sullivan said. "This blows the lid off the clubhouse."

Investigators from the New York State Police, a department recognized internationally as a leader in internal affairs, found that Connecticut's state police command staff improperly interfered with and influenced internal affairs cases, and that citizens' complaints were regarded as nuisances rather than legitimate cases warranting investigation.

Col. Joseph Loszynski, deputy superintendent of the New York State Police who led the investigation, said the report and recommendations should lay a foundation for a new era. He said 11 New York investigators conducted 262 interviews, and spent 9,500 hours on the investigation. Loszynski and the team of investigators issued more than 60 recommendations, including making the internal affairs division completely autonomous, and having its supervisor hold the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher. The report recommends a centralized complaint system for the public, including a way to make complaints via the Internet. Rell also ordered a 24-hour complaint hot line.

Some recommendations already have been implemented, Boyle said, and others will be soon.

Blumenthal's office worked jointly with New York investigators and released a separate report of 11 whistleblower cases that were brought to his attention. The report names several managers who had some involvement in internal affairs cases. Mentioned by name or rank were: Boyle; Lynch; Lt. William Podgorski, Lynch's chief of staff; Lt. Col. Vincent McSweeney; and Capt. Michael Guillot, who supervised the internal affairs unit before he was removed.

New York officials found no evidence of anyone in the command structure purposefully trying to harm or improperly target any employee for launching an internal affairs investigation, as was initially claimed by the state police union.

What New York found was far worse than what state police union members had anticipated. The report criticized the actions of rank and file troopers as much as it did command staff.

"In numerous cases reviewed, supervisors or command staff directed investigators to ignore evidence, limit the scope of their investigation to the point of not following obvious leads, not open or pursue a case that was already being investigated by an outside agency or not open an administrative case with strong evidence of misconduct if a separate criminal investigation did not find proof," the report says.

Among the most egregious cases outlined in the report are:

    * Neither prompt nor appropriate action was taken against a state trooper involved in seven alcohol-related incidents, four of which involved possible drunken driving in his cruiser and his personal car, and other instances that involved suicide threats and medical treatment for alcohol. One sergeant who responded to several incidents was a close friend of the trooper and protected him.
    * Although the trooper was found to have violated department standards - conduct unbecoming an officer and improper drug or alcohol use - Guillot, former internal affairs unit supervisor, directed a sergeant to "delete or change all references to suicide threats and medical treatment" in the official internal affairs report.
    * Coincidentally, during the course of the New York investigation, that same trooper was stopped by a New York State Trooper who, while on patrol near the Connecticut border on I-84, noticed a car parked on a ramp, with the driver passed out behind the wheel. The trooper realized he was in Connecticut and called Connecticut state police. The Connecticut trooper was never arrested for drunken driving and no official report was made.

Four separate internal affairs investigations remain open in the case of the trooper.

The trooper was never arrested; his license was suspended but later reinstated. He was suspended and placed on light duty.

At one troop, an "open competition" existed among some troopers over who could make the most drunken-driving arrests on the midnight shift. A report in February 2004 conducted by the department's own inspection unit raised questions about improprieties in the administration of tests to determine a suspect's blood-alcohol level, and that troopers might be improperly encouraging suspects to refuse breath tests.

Several DWI suspects had complained to prosecutors that the troopers told them they would be released from the barracks lockup earlier if they refused the test, but if they took it, would have to post bail and remain in custody longer. Refusing the test results in easier convictions.

When the internal affairs unit was brought into the case, it investigated only one trooper in connection with the allegations. They interviewed none of the hundreds of citizens who were arrested for DWI to determine whether there were irregularities in their arrests or processing.

"It demonstrates the tendency of some command staff to exclude certain personnel as targets of investigations," the report says, adding that this case had the most direct effect on the public.

Sgt. Jae Fontanella was found guilty in an internal affairs investigation of submitting false documentation for overtime hours worked in the amount of $5,227.24. He received a five-day suspension.

In a whistleblower case reported to Blumenthal, it was alleged that Fontanella received light discipline because he was a close friend of Lynch and because he reinvestigated a highly controversial 1999 automobile accident "involving a person with strong political connections."

Fontanella was one of the troopers who investigated the death of prominent Hartford-area businessman Neil Esposito, who was killed in 1999 on Route 9 near the junction of I-91 in Cromwell. Police initially said Esposito was driving, but changed their story.

New York investigators were stunned the department did not pursue criminal charges for the more than 11 counts of falsifying records, and New York state police said the discipline imposed "was grossly insufficient in relation to the seriousness of the conduct."

"The department allowed Sgt. Fontanella to keep the proceeds of his fraudulent action rather than requiring him to repay the overtime received for unverified hours," the report says.

Fontanella is now commander of the accident reconstruction unit, which investigates motor vehicle fatalities.

State police failed to properly investigate allegations by a defense attorney that a trooper on the statewide narcotics task force had been paid $2,000 to $5,000 a month to protect a drug dealer. No case number was ever assigned and no report filed.

There were several instances of domestic violence by troopers for which there were no arrests or discipline, the report says.

Union President Steven Rief said the union asked for the investigation, but it reaped more than any one expected.

"Apparently, it was well-founded. Where was the oversight with management?" he said.

Courant Staff writers Christine Dempsey and Chris Keating contributed to this report.

A discussion of this story with Courant Staff Writer Tracy Gordon Fox is scheduled to be shown on New England Cable News each hour today between 9 a.m. and noon.

Retrieved December 5, 2006 from http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-cspinternal1205.artdec05,0,7112691,print.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Hartford Courant

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 10:41 PM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: Ms. Sibley is a also a spokesperson for the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. For more information about the Task Force see: http://www.azicac.net

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Audrey Sibley - Teens and their parents need to be knowledgeable about Internet safety

The Arizona Star (on line) 

Tucson, Arizona. 11/26/06

Did you know that your teen views the Internet as a safe way to meet new people? One in three teens is considering meeting an online acquaintance in person. Fourteen percent of teens have already met in person someone they met online.

That's what experts found when Cox Communications partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children this summer for a teen summit on Internet safety. As a former Miss Arizona and a current student at the University of Arizona, I have had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with a diverse group of people, as well as working for a number of valuable causes. Through these experiences, I have learned that the secret to making a difference in a community is to have a positive impact on current issues.

The Miss America Organization is the world's largest provider of scholarships for women and one of the nation's leading achievement programs. Every participant in the system has a personal platform — an issue she promotes in hopes of improving the quality of life in her community, state and nation.

I did not choose my platform of preventing child abduction and exploitation; it chose me. On Feb. 3, 2004, two days after the abduction of Carlie Brucia in Sarasota, Fla., I sat transfixed and horrified as I watched the video image of 11-year-old Carlie being led away by her abductor, never to be seen alive again.

I knew in that moment, fighting for the safety of our children would become my life's mission. The question became, how can I do more?

After partnering with the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force shortly after I won the title of Miss Arizona, I became even more interested in how teenagers and younger children use the Internet, particularly in how they are using the Internet to socialize.

Today, I spend much of my time using the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's NetSmartz Workshop to educate Arizona's children and communities about Internet safety. Just recently, I participated in a forum sponsored by Cox Communications as part of the taping of a TV show, "My Voice. My Choice. Caught in the Web," which airs from from 7 to 8 tonight on Cox Channel 7.

The show features the story of Kylie Taylor, a teenager who shares her terrifying encounter with a 47-year-old chat room acquaintance. After she tells her story, the show features a Scottsdale high school student body president, a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy and me spending time exploring the challenges, issues and risks associated with teen Internet habits.

Statistics reinforce the attention we should give our children when they are using the Internet in order to keep it a safe environment.

Join me on Cox 7 to learn more about this topic — vitally important to you and your teens — or visit www.cox.com/takecharge to learn how to safely navigate the Internet.

Audrey Sibley is a junior at the University of Arizona, where she is pursuing a degree in marketing and a minor in religious studies.

Retrieved December 1, 2006 from http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/158257.php

Posted by Dr. Kardasz at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Dr. Kardasz: The following article from the Chicago Tribune gives disturbing information about the Chicago P.D. For more information on the subject of whistleblowing see: http://www.kardasz.org/Whistle_Blowing.html

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Chicago, Illinois - Report: Bad cops protected

By David Heinzmann, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Todd Lighty contributed to this report, 11/29/06

Chicago police officials have deliberately ignored corruption within the ranks, giving bad cops a sense of security to commit crimes on the job without being caught, according to a national expert on internal affairs hired by plaintiffs suing the city.

The damning report by Lou Reiter, a former deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, contends that police officials, including Supt. Philip Cline, have continued a "practice of indifference" toward corruption that "makes officers who engage in misconduct feel protected."

He says in the report that although the department has legitimate guidelines against police misconduct, officials don't enforce the policies.

Reiter has advised nearly 1,000 police departments, including New York's, and has been hired by the City of Chicago as an expert witness in police-brutality lawsuits at least four times.

Chicago police officials say the criticism is based on limited knowledge of the department, and it does not take into consideration policy reforms currently under way to thwart corruption and abuse before it becomes a problem.

Reiter's report is part of a federal lawsuit filed a decade ago by a husband and wife pair of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. They charge that after they blew the whistle on corrupt cop Joseph Miedzianowski, he influenced the Internal Affairs Division to turn the tables and attack their credibility.

Despite the age of the lawsuit, Reiter's analysis of the department was completed this year. As part of the same lawsuit, a former assistant U.S. attorney testified that in each of the 18 corrupt-cop cases he prosecuted, he encountered a "blue wall of silence," in which fellow officers turned a blind eye to corruption and later resisted cooperating with criminal investigations of their colleagues.

The blue wall includes not only failing to report the criminal conduct of fellow officers, "but actually not interrupting or stopping the criminal activities if you come about them," the former U.S. attorney, Brian Netols, testified in a sworn deposition. Although he had left the government for private practice at the time of his deposition, Netols has since rejoined the U.S. attorney's office as a prosecutor.

The testimony comes at a time when the Chicago Police Department is on the defensive about its handling of corrupt officers. There has been ongoing criticism since the release in July of a special prosecutor's report alleging that detectives under Cmdr. Jon Burge tortured suspects in the 1980s while the department often looked the other way.

And the arrests of four members of the Special Operations Section in September revealed that police internal affairs had been aware of numerous allegations against the officers for four years without taking disciplinary action against them.

Cline said that the charges against Jerome Finnigan, Carl Suchocki, Keith Herrera and Thomas Sherry showed the department has zero tolerance for corruption. But the men were charged with a string of robberies, kidnappings and false arrests only after the Cook County state's attorney's office began to investigate the officers because of their behavior in court.

While Cline and other officials have professed that the department does not tolerate corruption or brutality, the report and Netols' testimony suggest that police leaders know their policies are inadequate and have done little to reform.

Reviewed many records

Reiter based his charges on a review of department policies, depositions of police officials and prosecutors in court cases, department reports and statistics on corruption and abuse complaints against officers.

Police officials "made a conscious choice to not implement a reasonable system to identify and remediate officers who exhibit negative performance, behavior and/or attitudinal problems," according to the report.

Reiter declined to be interviewed about his report, citing the pending litigation.

Police officials acknowledge that their methods to identify patterns of complaints against officers have not been effective in the past. But the department is testing a new system that would not only identify patterns, but also do a better job of reinforcing ethical conduct before officers stray, said Assistant Deputy Supt. Deb Kirby, who took over the Internal Affairs Division 2 1/2 years ago.

"Most large law enforcement agencies are struggling to identify poor performance issues," Kirby said. "Most are doing it under mandates with the federal government. The Chicago Police Department is doing this on their own."

Kirby also takes issue with Netols' suggestion that it is part of the department's culture to turn a blind eye toward corruption.

"On a day-to-day basis, I deal with officers who have integrity and ethics who call the Internal Affairs Division to report conduct they observe," she said.

Reiter and Netols are expected to testify in the trial of the suit brought by former ATF agent Diane Klipfel and her husband, Michael Casali, who is still an agent. The couple allege their careers, and to some extent their lives, were ruined when they tried to blow the whistle on Miedzianowski in the early 1990s. Instead of investigating Miedzianowski, internal affairs officials turned the probe on Klipfel and Casali, and years passed before the FBI investigated and indicted the notorious gang investigator.

Similar findings

Other experts who have probed the Police Department's handling of complaints have come away with similar findings. The Police Department's methods of investigating its own have been deeply flawed for a long time, said law professor Craig Futterman, who has studied the department's handling of complaints against officers.

Futterman, who teaches at the University of Chicago, gathered data for his studies during lawsuits in which he represented alleged victims of police abuse.

"What I see is a picture of impunity within the Chicago Police Department. You have a small number of officers who perpetrate crimes who have absolute impunity," he said.

A relatively small number of police officers are responsible for the vast majority of complaints, he said. Over the last five years, about 5 percent of police officers have a troubling number of complaints against them, Futterman said. About 85 percent of officers have been the subject of three or fewer complaints. But he identified 662 officers, out of about 13,500, with 10 or more complaints.

Even when negative public attention from a police scandal is focused on how the department handles internal investigations, he said, the results are often ineffective.

"There's a big police scandal, and you'll get these big pronouncements, `internal investigation,' `no stone unturned,' and `we're going to do all these great things,'" Futterman said. "And then the dust settles, and it ends up being business as usual."

dheinzmann@tribune.com

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