02.04.08

Another suspended sentence for an Arizona Internet sexual predator

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:19 by Administrator

Phoenix, Arizona – May 25, 2006

Offender: Francisco P. Santiago-Estrada

On January 27, 2006, Francisco Santiago-Estrada, a 24 year old unemployed married man, was arrested by members of the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and charged with luring a minor for sexual exploitation. The arrest occurred in Phoenix.

Santiago-Estrada came to the attention of law enforcement when he used the Internet with the intention of meeing a minor for sex.

On his profile page, Santiago-Estrada had listed his true name as “master”. He listed his favorite quote as: “You wouldnt know it to look at me, but I have a soul darker than the deepest pits of hell.”

During Internet chat conversations, while using the screen name: “dark_true_lord” he made sexually explicit statements including (expletives deleted):

“Looking to have some fun?”
“I mean u, me and a bed”
“You wanna play yet?”
“Like some hot wild sex”
“Cuz I love to teach”
“We could make out and if you were willing I would lay you down undress you and (expletive) on you for about an hour.”
“Then I would make love to you as gentle and as long as you like”

After the chat conversations, intent upon meeting a minor for sex, Santiago-Estrada drove from Gilbert, Arizona to Phoenix for the planned meeting.

The former marine arrived to meet the minor dressed in a black t-shirt with the words “Department 6f Homeland Security” printed on the front.

He was arrested and confessed to the crime. His unsuspecting wife was surprised by the officers who later appeared at his Gilbert, Arizona residence to serve a search warrant.

Santiago-Estrada was booked into the Maricopa County jail and the case was handled by the Maricopa County Attorneys Office.

Santiago-Estrada served 116 days in jail before pleading guilty to one count of luring a minor for sexual exploitation. On May 25, 2006 he was sentenced by Judge Warren J. Granville to a suspended sentence and probation. He will serve lifetime probation but is not required to register as a sex offender. If he violates probation he will serve the remainder of the one-year sentence on a work- furlough program. The court ordered that he is not to operate a computer for personal use.

Superior Court of Arizona – Maricopa County – case number: CR2006-104902

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Requiring credit cards for social networking site subscriptions

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:18 by Administrator

by Dr. Frank Kardasz, August 14, 2006

Should social networking sites like Myspace, Xanga, Friendster, Facebook, Hi5, FacetheJury and others require applicants to subscribe by entering information from a credit card?

The proprietors of social networking sites have difficulty preventing minors from improperly joining the sites. Many young people have been victimized by predators who roam the sites. Much of the responsibility falls upon parents who fail to monitor their childrens Intenet activity but increasingly, the industry is being called upon to place better controls on the use of social networking sites.

The idea of requiring credit card information from applicant/subscribers to social networking sites is controversial yet promising.

Credit cards have been suggested as a method of age-verification for subscribers to the sites. Critics argue that credit cards are not a foolproof method of age verification. While I agree that credit cards are not the best method of age verification I believe that requiring prospective subscribers to social networking sites to enter credit card information would be helpful in three other important ways:

1. As a deterrent to young people who often subscribe without the knowledge of their parents.

2. As a deterrent to criminals who might be less likely to offend knowing that their identity might be traced through the credit card information they entered.

3. As a lead for law enforcement to follow-up in order to trace back to a criminal when unlawful activity occurs.

Although the use of credit cards may not be a proof-positive means of age verification it would likely be a deterrent to those kids who would otherwise sneak onto a site and join without their parents knowledge. If the sites require the entry of a credit card number to subscribe, the child or teen has one extra hurdle to jump before joining a site without parental consent, and a parent might notice the charge on his or her credit card statement and follow-up by examining the childs Internet activity.

Criminals who intend to use the sites for unlawful purposes might be slowed if they were required to enter a credit card number knowing that the number might be traced later by law enforcement officials. Yes, some criminals will use stolen credit card numbers, but others will not.

Credit card information would give law enforcement an additional lead to trace through subpoena and search warrant in order to identify persons who facilitate or commit crimes through social networking sites.

Requiring a credit card to subscribe to a social networking site would not be perfect nor foolproof but I believe it would be better than the present free-for-all practices.

Unrelated to the present issue involving social networking sites, a couple years ago, in the disturbing world of Internet child pornography, we saw a slowing in reports of child pornography from one major Internet service provider when it began to require that subscribers pay a small annual fee for its “groups” service. It may be that users simply moved to the other free “groups” services to share and traffic child pornography, but it is also possible that the chance of being traced drove some of the child pornography traffickers away from the ISP that began charging a small fee. If social networking sites were to require users to enter a credit card, perhaps a similar situation would occur.

What are your thoughts?

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Phoenix Neuropsychologist Sentenced to 17 years

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:16 by Administrator

On November 3, 2005, Arizona ICAC investigators received disturbing information from a corporate attorney for a local healthcare organization. The attorney said that an alert Information Technology (IT) Specialist employed by the organization had observed unusual Internet traffic originating from an employee’s computer. A computer logged in under an employee’s name was trafficking sexually explicit chat conversations, apparently with minors, and the computer user was attempting to arrange meetings for sex with the minors.

Using the screen name “tripledigitheat” the computer user was discussing sex acts already completed with one unidentified minor. The IT specialist tracked the origin of the Internet traffic to someone logged it under the employee user name, “sthenderson”. Investigators were informed that “sthenderson” was the name assigned to an account registered to Dr. Steven Henderson, a neuropsychologist employed by the healthcare organization.

An intense week-long proactive investigation ensued. AZ ICAC investigators along with the Maricopa County (Arizona) Attorney’s Office authored and sent subpoenas for the purpose of identifying those involved in the alleged offenses. Henderson was placed under covert surveillance.

On November 11, 2005, “tripledigitheat”, engaged in sexually explicit Internet chat conversation with the intent to meet a minor for sex. His chats included the following excerpted statements:

“So are you maybe interested some in guys and girls or..?”
“Do you have a myspace or something”
“So have you ever thought about meeting someone from online?”
“I supposed to meet up with a friend today, but he’s not on now”
“Have a little fun…LOL.. like (expletive) off together”
“So are you at home now?”
“Hey…if I’m free for the next hour, we could meet now LOL…”
“I have met a guy b4 yes”
“Ive met guys and we’ve (expletive) off together”
“Yea, if we went back to ur apt, yes”
“Not to hurt you or something or rob you…never never never”
“So u wanna meet then”
“I can be there in 5 minutes”
“I’m excited to meet ya”

On November 11, 2005, at 1430 hours Henderson left his office at 350 W. Thomas in Phoenix and drove to a convenience store with the intent to meet a minor for sex. He was met instead by detectives and taken into custody. Immediately aware of his predicament, but selfishly oblivious to the suffering of others Henderson lamented, “No, no, no, don’t do this! Don’t do this! You don’t understand, you’re ending my life!” “My life is over!”

Henderson invoked his Fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination. His workplace computer was seized pursuant to a search warrant.

Investigators identified the minor victim (name withheld) who provided statements incriminating Henderson. Physical trace evidence was recovered from the victim’s home. The evidence matched Henderson and corroborated the victim’s story.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office handled plea negotiations.

On July 3, 2006, Henderson plead guilty before Judge Andrew G. Klein of the Maricopa County Superior Court to one felony count of sexual conduct with a minor and dangerous crime against children in the first degree. He also plead guilty to three counts of felony attempted sexual conduct with a minor and dangerous crimes against children in the second degree.

On August 25, 2006, Dr. Steven William Henderson, age 41, was sentenced to 17 years prison, lifetime probation, and sex offender registration.

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Deferred jail term for an Arizona Internet sexual predator

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:15 by Administrator

Phoenix, Arizona – September 11, 2006

Offender: Anthony Russell Allen, a.k.a. “BoredChandlerGuy”

On January 13, 2006, Anthony Russell Allen, an unmarried 32 year old armored car driver from Chandler, Arizona was arrested by members of the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and charged with luring a minor for sexual exploitation. The arrest occurred in Phoenix.

Allen came to the attention of law enforcement when he used the Internet with the intention of meeting a minor for sex. During Internet chat conversations, while using the screen name: “BoredChandlerGuy” he groomed his intended victim and made sexually explicit statements including (expletives deleted):

“Have you ever met people off of this?”
“Want to?”
“Would have to be a mall though i think in case u dont like me”
“What you want?
“How much clothes you need?”
“Was just asking cause other people have asked me that too LOL”
“But they said they would return the favor somehow”
“I think they meant sex wise”
“So you have a bf?”
“Heck I would knock down the door if you like older guys”
“Yeah sex would be nice wont lie there”
“Ok sorry getting into sex topic what you want to talk about?”
“So sometimes my mind drifts to sex talk”
“Yeah but nowdays girls having sex at 12″
“I see. Have u ever seen a guy naked?”
“So you never touched a (expletive) or anything?”
“Wow then you want me to come over and teach you things heh”
“But then again if u wanted to learn”
“As long as your not a cop or the tv crew that setting me up”
“A little nervous since you are only (age redacted) and underage”
“Can get in a lot of trouble”
“I wouldnt tell anyone if you wont”
“So going to show you my (expletive) if you want to see it”
“Think you might be tight for me though”
“If u wanted to have sex”
“Your not some crazy cop or reporter are ya?”
“Where would you want to meet and when?”
“Ok could bring you back to my place if ok”
“We could come back have some fun take you home?”
“Maybe try some sexual things if you like me”
“Do you have big (expletive)?”
“I wont (expletive) in you”
“Want to try?”
“Like sucking on a lolli pop from what I hear”
“Well normal is you on bottom and me on top but can do you on top me on bottom or you bent over on bed (Doggystyle)
“U will be there at 430″
“K see you then”

After the chat conversations, intent upon meeting a minor for sex, Allen drove from Chandler to Phoenix for the planned meeting. The armored car driver arrived in his personal vehicle, a sedan and was taken into custody. He confessed to the crime.

Allen was booked into the Maricopa County jail and the case was handled by the Maricopa County Attorneys Office. Allen served served 3 days in jail and pled guilty to one count of luring a minor for sexual exploitation.

On September 11, 2006 he was sentenced by Judge Bethany G. Hicks.
Sentencing included:
- Counseling
- Lifetime probation
- Sex offender registration
- 12 months jail with credit for 3 days served. This is a deferred jail term. (This means that the offender will only go to jail if he violates his probation terms).
- Screening for work furlough. (This means that even if the offender is jailed he may enter a program to work a job somewhere in the community during the day and spend his evenings in jail)

Superior Court of Arizona – Maricopa County
Read the sentencing of Judge Hicks at http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/scripts/meeds/qreturn.asp
enter the case number CR2006102635

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Campe Verde, Arizona man arrested for child porn

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:15 by Administrator

The Camp Verde Bugle, Daily Courier, Saturday, September 23, 2006

A Camp Verde man has been arrested and booked into the Yavapai County Jail charged with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in a case of child pornography. Detective Bob Ragsdale says the case was initiated by the Phoenix Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which identified a location in the Verde Valley from which child pornographic images were being Internet-traded. In conjunction with the Camp Verde Marshal’s Office, a search warrant was served at 631 S. Nichols St. in Camp Verde.

Leslie R. Davies, 58, was arrested Tuesday on charges possession of unlawful images on his home computer.

Ragsdale said the unit has a full complement of detectives knowledgeable in the computer investigation of child porn. The Task Force investigates crime reports from citizens as well as proactive investigations by undercover on-line, Internet detectives and referrals from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cybertip Line. Task force members assist other law enforcement agencies by providing investigative support and members also conduct training and education activities related to Internet crime.

Retrieved September 23, 2006 from http://campverdebugle.1upsoftware.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID

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Internet sexual predator – Terry Alexander

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:14 by Administrator

Terry Wesley Alexander – Internet Sexual Predator

On May 29, 2001, 46 year old Terry Wesley Alexander, a divorced marketing director, was arrested in Tempe, Arizona and charged with attempt sexual conduct with a minor. Alexander had used the Internet with the intent to meet a minor for sex. Alexander had met someone on the Internet whom he believed was a woman who would permit him to sexualize her two children. One of the children was named Dana, the other Erica. Using the screen name “Yosemite4me” Alexander had listed his hobbies as coaching, playing and umpiring, baseball, biking, hiking, working out and running.

The statements below are excerpts from chat conversations Alexander had with the person whom he believed was the mother:

The following statements are excerpts from chat conversations Alexander had with the person whom he believed to be a minor child:

Alexander was arrested after he traveled from California to Arizona for the purpose of meeting with the mother and children for sex. He brought playing cards and gifts with him.

On February 13, 2002, Alexander plead guilty to one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor in the Maricopa County (Arizona) Superior Court of Judge Arthur T. Anderson. Judge Anderson sentenced Alexander to six months jail, lifetime probation, and sex offender registration.

Read the courts decision at: http://www.courtminutes.maricopa.gov/
enter the case number CR2001008589

Terry Wesley Alexander is a registered sex offender in California
see: http://www.nsopr.gov/

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Sex-offender stings get thousands of illegals: Experts still concerned U.S. children could become prey to repeat offenders

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:09 by Administrator

Dr. Kardasz: Not all of the alien sex offenders described below were Internet-related but the story is a disturbing commentary on the state of the immigration system in the U.S.

————————————————————————————-

Sex-offender stings get thousands of illegals: Experts still concerned U.S. children could become prey to repeat offenders

01/09/07, By Chelsea Schilling, WorldNetDaily.com

More than 9,000 sex offenders have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials through a series of stings called Operation Predator in three years of operation, a 2006 Department of Homeland Security Report says. But some experts are wondering if the efforts are enough to protect innocent American children from being preyed on by returning criminal alien sex offenders.

Foreign nationals account for roughly 85 percent of child sex offenders arrested by the operation, which was launched by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in July 2003, officials say. And as WND previously has reported, authorities also have linked illegal aliens to a wave of gang-rapes across the U.S.

The program was designed to safeguard children from foreign national pedophiles, human traffickers and international sex tourists, and in the first year alone, ICE arrested more than 3,200 child predators in the U.S. who committed forms of child exploitation.

But Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, a researcher of violent crimes and criminal profiler who consults with FBI, state and local police, told WND, “Illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes first cross the U.S. border illegally, then gradually commit worse crimes and are continually released back into society or deported. Those who were deported simply returned illegally again. There is a clear pattern of criminal escalation. From misdemeanors such as assault or DUI, to drug offenses, illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes break U.S. laws repeatedly.”

Re-entering the United States after having been deported is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but many aliens try and do succeed. Schurman-Kauflin estimates nearly 100 percent of deported illegal immigrant sexual offenders will return to the U.S. and molest again.

“Every expert on sex offenders knows that the likelihood of child predators re-offending is extremely high,” she told WND. “Child molesters in general assault many victims before they are apprehended. And if they can return through an open border, it is very likely that they would. Why not?”

In fact, ICE reported a twice-deported child molester from Mexico was arrested with 25 pounds of marijuana and eight firearms in his possession in May 2004. “Nicolas Sandoval-Medina” first entered the U.S. illegally in 1996 and was deported to Mexico in July 1997. He later re-entered the country illegally and had sex with a 12-year-old girl in a Des Moines motel room, and was subsequently convicted on two counts of Lascivious Acts with a Child in December 1999. He was also criminally prosecuted for re-entering the country after deportation, a felony, and was deported to Mexico again in July 2000.

In another case, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who attempted to abduct a 7-year-old girl from a laundromat was one of 25 arrested in a sting targeting criminal alien sex offenders in Los Angeles last August. Four of the offenders, two Salvadorans, a Honduran and a Mexican, previously had been deported from the U.S. A fifth man, Alejandro Rodriguez Villegas, 50, convicted of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, also faces criminal charges but remains on the loose.

Immigration officials and Border Patrol agents match criminal records databases with Megan’s law directories across the U.S. to apprehend alien sexual predators. However, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC’s president, William Gheen, doesn’t believe the efforts are enough.

“I think that what ICE is doing is the equivalent of putting a band-aid on a shotgun blast,” Gheen told WND. “ICE is attempting to target the worst of the worst illegal aliens when, in fact, we can’t just do that,” he told WND. “We’ve got to address illegal immigration holistically. You can’t just hope the computers are going to tell you which ones to deport and which ones to not.”

He adds that despite some long-needed immigration enforcement efforts, immigration officials may still be doing too little too late while illegal alien child molesters return to prey on more victims.

“Before we start applauding ICE for their scrap enforcement, we need to start thinking about how many American children have already been raped and violated because they failed to do their jobs. Before I start clapping, I want to know where the hell they have been for the last couple of years.”

One of the largest hurdles to effective immigration enforcement has been cooperation between local, state and federal police. Last year, officials of the House Judiciary Committee said that U.S. immigration officers and police are not always on the same page. Police do not always inform immigration authorities about arrests of undocumented aliens, and immigration officers are often too late to identify the aliens before they are released on bail.

Jim Kouri, CPP is fifth vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He says the problems lie with some larger police departments who have leaders with political ideologies that do not promote department policies to turn illegal immigrants over to ICE.

“Some police departments are prohibited from cooperating with ICE or other federal agencies regarding crimes committed by illegal aliens,” he told WND. “The problem is that these cities have liberal mayors who appoint liberal police chiefs or those who will implement liberal policies in spite of their personal views. However, there are many more police departments that cooperate with ICE than don’t cooperate.”

According to a 2006 Department of Homeland Security Report, since January, ICE has trained an additional 40 state and county law enforcement officers as part of the 287(g) program to provide targeted immigration enforcement by state and local authorities. The Immigration and Nationality Act section 287(g) grants local and state jurisdictions the ability to enforce immigration law with proper training and supervision by federal authorities.

In addition, ICE, in partnership with other DHS entities, is now detaining all illegal aliens apprehended along the borders for removal, effectively signaling the end of “catch-and-release.”

“The best way is to capture them at the border—a proactive approach—rather than catching them after they rape or molest a child—a reactive approach,” Kouri says. “To do that we need to control our borders. Right now they are out of control. When you have Mexican gunmen on U.S. soil chasing away National Guard troops, that should tell you something is very, very wrong.”

Below are just a few of the arrests of foreign national sex offenders by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement since the beginning of Operation Predator in July 2003. Many of the sex offenders had been deported at least once before they returned to molest children again.

• Humberto Gabriel Zamora — On July 10, 2003, ICE agents in Minnesota arrested Zamora, a Mexican who was living under an alias in Willmar, Minn. He had been convicted of first degree sexual abuse involving a 15-year-old girl in March 2001. He was deported to Mexico in April 2001. He subsequently re-entered the country illegally and moved to Willmar, where he began working under another name.

• 27 child predators arrested in Florida — On July 24, 2003, ICE agents in Miami arrested 25 men convicted of sexually abusing children and 2 women convicted of child abuse or endangerment. ICE agents had targeted for arrest Bayardo Rafael Chamarro, a Nicaraguan national who was a registered sex offender and who had evaded law enforcement efforts to deport him. As they prepared to arrest him, Chamarro was caught groping a 12-year-old girl in a Sears department store. He was subsequently charged with lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under the age of 16. Chamarro had been charged previously with similar crimes against minors and was a registered sex offender under Megan’s Law.

• 50 alien child predators arrested in Maryland — On August 13, 2003, ICE agents in Baltimore announced the arrest of 50 aliens who had been convicted of sexual offenses involving minors, but had evaded deportation. Among those arrested were a summer camp employee convicted of molesting three pre-pubescent sisters.

• 13 alien child predators arrested in Colorado — On September 13, 2003, ICE agents in Denver announced the arrest of 13 aliens who had been convicted of sexual offenses against minors, but had subsequently evaded deportation. Among those arrested was Pedro Gutierrez-Lozano, a Mexican national convicted in 1999 of 2nd degree sexual assault on a mentally impaired minor. Gutierrez was deported to Mexico in 2000 after serving his 180-day jail sentence. He returned to the United States illegally and began living in Colorado until his arrest by ICE agents.

• Ramon Amador — On September 13, 2003, ICE officers arrested Ramon Amador, 53, a man wanted in Minnesota on charges of raping a 9-year-old, when he applied for U.S. immigration benefits in California. A background check revealed that Amador was a wanted fugitive.

• On September 16, 2003, a federal judge in Newark sentenced Rafael Ruiz, a Dominican national, to 44 months imprisonment for operating a house of prostitution in Plainfield, N.J. He was involved in a ring that smuggled female juveniles from Mexico into the United States and then held them to work as prostitutes against their will. ICE agents closed down the trafficking ring.

• Fritz Laguerre –On September 16, 2003, ICE agents in West Palm, Florida arrested Fritz Laguerre based on an outstanding deportation order. Laguerre, a citizen of Haiti, had been arrested by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office in July 2002 for raping his 12-year-old daughter. Laguerre had subsequently evaded ICE efforts to deport him.

• Julio Cesar Rabago-Magana — In March 2005, ICE deported a Mexican illegal alien who had been convicted of raping a 4-year-old boy in the basement of Mercado Central in Minneapolis. Rabago-Magana asked the boy to help him carry boxes to a basement storeroom. The boy agreed, but when they entered the room, Rabago-Magana sexually assaulted him. Rabago-Magana pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. After serving his sentence, removal officers deported him to Mexico six days later.

• 12 criminal alien child sex predators arrested in Calif. — On May 4, 2005, 60-year-old Martin Salgado-Rivera, a Mexican national with a criminal history that spans three decades, was one of twelve foreign child sex predators arrested in southern Santa Clara County, Calif. Salgado-Rivera’s criminal past includes convictions for the rape and molestation of several minors. His arrest was part of a daylong operation targeting convicted alien sex offenders who now face deportation.

• 47 criminal alien sex offenders arrested in N.Y. – October 25, 2005, thirty–six of the offenders were in the U.S. illegally, and fourteen were legal permanent residents. All were foreign-born and had been convicted of rape, sodomy, assault with intent to cause physical injury, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment, coarse sex conduct and possessing a sexual performance by a child. One victim was only 3 years old.

• 8 criminal alien sex offenders arrested in Washington, D.C. –- Dec. 2005, ICE Agents arrested 8 criminal alien sex offenders in Washington, D.C. and Virginia over a period of three days. All are citizens or nationals of El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico who have previously been convicted of sex crimes against children — including rape, statutory assault on a child, aggravated sexual battery, sexual abuse, and indecent liberties.

• Gasper Almilcar Guzman — July 10, 2006, In Sayre, Pa., the Evening Times reported he was among a group of men who were found July 10 to be in this country illegally following a routine traffic stop in Athens Township. Guzman had been convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in Alabama in 2005. Guzman was deported before he could begin serving his five-year sentence.

• Miguel Gutierrez — July 13, In Noblesville, Ind., the 20-year old illegal alien faces two counts of rape for taking a 14-year-old into a garage and participating in a four-man gang rape on the girl. Following the gang rape, the girl was forced into a car and raped again, according to news reports.

• Sinoe Salgado Garcia – July 21, a 28-year-old Fontana, Calif., man convicted of kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl, was sentenced to a 30-years-to-life prison term, according to the Riverside Press Enterprise. The child was found hours later inside a shed, thrown over a 6-foot-tall block wall, investigators said. She underwent surgery to repair damage caused by the rape and sodomy, court records show. The site reported that she also suffered three facial fractures.

• 25 criminal alien sex offenders arrested in Los Angeles – August 24, 2006, four of the offenders, two Salvadorans, a Honduran and a Mexican, previously had been deported from the U.S. A fifth man, Alejandro Rodriguez Villegas, 50, convicted of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, also faces criminal charges but remains on the loose.

• 45 criminal alien sex offenders arrested in New York — Nov. 29, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers of the New York City Department of Probation, arrested 45 child predators and criminal alien sex offenders in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

The earlier report, from the Violent Crimes Institute in Atlanta, reported about 240,000 illegal-immigrant sex offendersare living in the U.S., and estimated 93 sex offenders and 12 serial sex offenders cross the border illegally into the U.S. each day.

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Arizona – Maricopa County Attorney rebuts the distorted ABC 20/20 story of Matthew Bandy

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:07 by Administrator

From FoxNews.com on-line version -

Defense In Child Porn Case Distorts the Truth

Sunday, January 28, 2007

By Rachel Alexander, Deputy County Attorney, Maricopa County

Recent media reports, including a Jan. 23 column by FOXNews.com
columnist Wendy McElroy, and a Jan. 19 broadcast of the ABC news program
20/20, have portrayed the prosecution of an Phoenix, Ariz., teenager in an
Internet child pornography case as an overzealous prosecution by the
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s office would like to make clear our
contention that these reports grossly misrepresented the facts involved,
and that the characterization of this case in the media is the result of
the juvenile defendant’s parents denial of the evidence of their son’s
guilt and unfortunate initiation of a media disinformation campaign.

The Bandy’s even hired Bernstein Crisis Management to design a web site
attacking County Attorney Andrew Thomas and further spread
disinformation. The “experts” quoted on the website were not given the specific
facts of Bandy’s situation; they were simply asked broad questions about
viruses hijacking a computer.

This case was not about adult pornography, nor was it about a computer
virus surreptitiously downloading child pornography to your computer–
as the media, family and defense counsel have portrayed it. The
prosecution of then 16-year old Matt Bandy was about an investigation that
yielded overwhelming evidence of the defendant viewing, downloading,
uploading and sharing pornographic images of children being sexually abused,
and burning them to a CD.

Matt Bandy admitted to detectives that he visited pornographic websites
as well as an online group known for sharing pornographic images of
children. A burned CD was found in his home, which contained the same
pornographic images of children found on his computer. The images were
saved in a file named “Lolita,” which is a term used by child pornographer
traffickers to refer to underage images.

Bandy’s defense attorney asserted that a “virus” or “trojan” must have
downloaded the child pornography to Bandy’s computer without his
knowledge. Even if this were true, it is the County Attorney’s contention
that a virus could not have burned those images to a CD, titled them
“Lolita,” then physically removed the CD from the computer and place it
elsewhere within the family home. The fact that child pornography was found
on the CD at his home cannot be ignored.

The investigation was initiated by the Phoenix Police Department after
Yahoo! reported the transfer of child pornography to the Center for
Missing and Exploited Children, as required by law. Evidence subpoenaed
from Yahoo! revealed that pornographic images of children had been
uploaded from a username “mrbob1980hoopdu” to a Yahoo! online group called
“beth_lard9.”

Beth_lard9 was an online group created for exchanging child
pornography. Bandy admitted to the Phoenix police detectives assigned to the case
that he participated in this online group, and said his username was
“joebean1988hoopdu.” Yahoo! provided information showing that the
username that uploaded the child pornography, “mrbob1980hoopdu,” was
registered as “Ms. Joe Bean”– a clear link to Bandy.

In addition, both the IP address assigned to the Bandy computer by the
Bandy’s Internet service provider Cox and the MAC address of the Bandy
computer were matched to the newsgroup postings by “mrbob1980hoopdu.”

Ms. McElroy’s column reported the defense assertion that the
prosecution refused to perform a forensic analysis of the juvenile’s computer,
and that a forensic analysis found that “nine images were probably
downloaded without his knowledge onto his hard drive by a virus.”

This is not accurate. The prosecution’s forensic examiner, a detective
with over 400 hours of training in computer forensics who is certified
by the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists,
the leading organization in this area, performed a lengthy analysis of
Bandy’s computer. The results of this examination were detailed in a
report over 100 pages long. This detective found 72 images of child
pornography on the computer, stored in folders created on his computer
entitled “…kidlolitagood ones.

The Bandy family hired their own forensic examiner, whose resume does
not indicate she is certified with IACIS and whose expertise and
training is seriously questioned by the prosecutors. This examiner is
responsible for the claim that a virus probably downloaded the images without
the juvenile’s knowledge.

(Fox News Editor’s note: each side in this case disputes the expertise and
qualifications of the forensic examiner used by the other side. )

If this were the case, what would stop anyone accused of downloading
child porn from using that excuse? That excuse has been used with little
success in the past by defendants. Last summer, in U.S. v. O’Keefe, the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the child pornography conviction
of a defendant who blamed a virus for placing child pornography on his
computer. In that case, the prosecution’s forensic analysis of his
computer indicated there were viruses on his computer, but they were not
capable of downloading child pornography.

If the analysis by the forensic analyst hired by Bandy provided
exculpatory evidence, it should have been presented during the prosecution of
the case. The only report that has been provided to our office was a
seven-page document consisting of some conclusions; there was no report
on scanning for viruses, no mention of the CD that was found or the work
the examiner performed – no mention of any viruses supposedly
responsible for the activities described or the CD.

In fact, our office’s forensic examiner who examined the computer
acknowledged after the case blew up in the media that there were child porn
images present on the computer nine months before the viruses infected
the computer, so the viruses could not have been solely responsible.

It is a prosecutor’s responsibility to try cases where there is a
reasonable likelihood of conviction. Bandy’s defense attorney has publicly
acknowledged that there was an “80 percent” chance of conviction if the
case went to trial.

The plea agreement reached in this case has been misrepresented as an
indication that we did not have a strong case. This too is not accurate.

Arizona has one of the toughest child pornography laws in the nation,
requiring a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for each image of
child pornography, and multiple counts must be served consecutively. By
these laws, Bandy could have faced 90 years in prison.

Our office never intended to ask for a sentence of 90 years in prison,
as has been so greatly exaggerated, and the plea reflects our office
efforts to avoid giving the juvenile 90 years in prison. Our office has a
duty to examine each case on its own merits and reach a result which is
just. In light of the circumstances surrounding this case — such as
the age of the juvenile and his lack of prior criminal conduct — we felt
90 years was disproportionately harsh and offered a plea bargain
allowing Bandy to plead guilty to the lesser charge of distributing
pornography to minors. Bandy accepted this agreement.

The victim in this case is not Matt Bandy. The victims are the children
who are exploited and made virtual sex slaves. Some of the children in
the images found on his computer and CD were recognized as past victims
of exploitation, and some were under 10 years old.

This case is not about pornography, it is about child pornography.
Child pornography sexualizes children for profit. If you can justify a
crime as horrible as child pornography, you can justify any heinous crime.

Our office did what it thought was right in this situation, and a media
disinformation campaign cannot change the overwhelming evidence of
Bandy’s guilt.

Unfortunately, the court removed the sex offender registration terms
from Bandy’s guilty plea, so he will not receive the treatment he needs
to avoid this happening again. Individuals who become involved in child
pornography have a hard time breaking free from it. We can only hope
that Bandy does.

Rachel Alexander is the deputy county attorney with the Maricopa County
Attorney’s Office, Maricopa County, Arizona.

Retrieved January 29, 2006 from
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,247903,00.html

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Arizona ICAC Task Force Recognized as Child Defenders of the Month by the National Law Center for Children and Families

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:05 by Administrator

Members of the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force were recognized as Child Defenders of the Month for January, 2007 in recognition of their many efforts to protect children from the harms of sexual predators on the Internet.

In late 2006, the Arizona ICAC collaborated with the Phoenix Police Department, Special Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a detective from the Scottsdale Police Department in an investigation of a suspected child pornographer. The team conducted a proactive investigation and identified a Phoenix home as the source of contraband videos and images of child pornography. During the investigation, it was revealed that one of the residents of the home had a lengthy and violent criminal history. Upon entry onto the property by the Phoenix Police Department Special Assignment Unit, the suspect Shawn Hazelton admitted to the offenses. Additionally, a cursory forensics examination of computer media located at the residence revealed unlawful contraband images of child pornography. Hazelton was booked and charged with seven counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. During the ceremony, Councilman Stanton applauded the collaborative effort in this case.

The ICAC Task Force is a multi-agency network of Arizona based law enforcement personnel whose mission is to apprehend and bring to justice Internet sexual predators and child pornographers. Investigations focus primarily on the crimes of sexual exploitation of a minor and the luring of minors for sexual exploitation, but also include cases involving child prostitution and obscenity directed towards minors where the Internet was used as an integral part of the crime.

Since 1998, detectives, special agents and prosecutors have recorded over 2,600 investigations resulting in over 250 arrests or indictments. Offenders have received over 550 years of incarceration and many lifetimes of probation.

Within Arizona, the Task Force is networked through memoranda of understanding with 47 state, county and local law enforcement agencies. ICAC investigators also work cooperatively with Federal colleagues from the F.B.I., Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Secret Service in enforcement of the United States Code violations involving Internet crimes against children. The Arizona ICAC is one of 46 regional Task Forces located across the country.

The National Law Center for Children and Families is proud to recognize members of the Arizona ICAC Task Force as the Child Defenders of the Month for January 2007.

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U.S. Supreme Court refuses to consider the case of man sentenced to 200 years for possessing child pornography.

Posted in Internet crimes against children at 05:03 by Administrator

Dr. Frank Kardasz, updated March 7, 2007

In February 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Morton Berger, a former Phoenix, Arizona high school teacher sentenced to 200 years prison for possessing child pornography. Bergers attorneys wished to argue that his sentence was grossly disproportionate to his crime, amounting to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

After a jury trial in 2004, an Arizona judge sentenced the former Cortez High School teacher to consecutive 10-year prison terms on each of 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (child pornography). Each of the counts was for possessing computer and printed images of child pornography, and 10 years was the minimum sentence for each count. While Berger actually possessed hundreds of images and videos in his twisted collection but only 20 images were selected for prosecution.

In 2002 Morton Berger was a married, 51 year old high school teacher when AZ ICAC Task Force investigators conducted a child pornography investigation at his home. Pursuant to a search warrant, investigators uncovered Berger’s demented pornographic treasure trove including binders containing printed images and thousands of computer files of every imaginable style of pornography.

Arizona State Law contains serious penalties for possession of child pornography. A single image carries a sentencing range from 10-24 years mandatory prison with no early release provisions. Prosecutors offered Berger a plea of 17 years prison which he declined.

Prosecutors charged Berger with twenty of the unlawful images. After trial, the horrified jury quickly convicted, and Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Ruth Harris Hilliard sentenced Berger to the mandatory minimum, ten years prison for each of the twenty images.

Berger appealed the 200 year sentence based on arguments of equal protection under the law and cruel and unusual punishment. In December 2004, the conviction was affirmed by two of the three judges of the Arizona Court of Appeals (Division One). Judges Susan Ehrlich and Philip Hall dismissed Berger’s appeal with well-reasoned and researched arguments including (citations omitted):

* It is evident beyond the need for elaboration that a State’s interest in safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is compelling.

* …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 legislative judgment…is that the use of children as subjects of pornographic materials is harmful to the physiological, emotional, and mental health of the child.

* …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.

* …it (the law) will decrease the production of child pornography if it penalizes those who possess and view the product, thereby decreasing demand.

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

* 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.

* Berger downloaded images from the Internet, and every time he visited a website, he demonstrated to the producers and sellers of child pornography that there was a demand for their product. Berger’s demand served to drive the industry; there need not have been a direct monetary exchange.

* Berger maintains also that, because his possession of the pornographic images was passive and because he did not use threats or violence in the commission of his crimes, his sentence is grossly disproportionate. This logic is abstruse. As was described by this court in Hazlett, 205 Ariz. at 527 p 11, 73 P.3d at 1262, and as is evident from the violent pornographic images in this case, child pornography is a form of child abuse.

* The materials produced are a permanent record of the children’s participation and the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation.

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Morton Berger is scheduled for release on June 22, 2175.
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Read the Arizona Appelate courts ruling at:
http://www.cofad1.state.az.us/opinionfiles/cridx.htm
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