Olathe man gets nearly 22 years for producing child porn

Larry L. Howard, 42, of Olathe has been sentenced to 21 years, 10 months in federal prison for making child porn. As it happens, investigators found Howard thanks to a man in Australia, who got busted for trading child pornography online -- with Howard. This has been a pretty quick case, it seems. Howard was arrested in March.

Local man gets 7 years for child porn

From The Star: A former Whiteman Air Force Base air traffic controller has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for attempting to distribute child pornography.

Lawsuit seeks to punish, expose people who view child porn

A Minnesota lawyer has filed a civil lawsuit against a man who allegedly made child pornography of a 9-year-old girl -- and 100 unnamed people who viewed those images on the Internet.

This kind of lawsuit is new territory, though, and could be hard to win, Minnesota Public Radio reports. Anderson says they're just as interested as exposing people involved in these crimes.

"If you download photographs that exploit children, we will track you down, we will publicly identify you to your friends and family, and we will sue you."

(AP Photo/Craig Lassig, File)

Child-porn suspect flees in ice-cream truck

That is an unfortunate choice of getaway vehicles ...

Judge says child-porn sentences are too long

A controversial federal judge in New York is fighting the idea of mandatory-minimum sentences for viewing child pornography, the New York Times reports. The minimum federal sentence is five years, but Judge Jack Weinstein argues that most of the defendants aren't threats to society and need treatment, not prison. He's thrown out one offender's conviction because it would send him to prison for too long. That attitude is raising concern among child advocates, who point out that -- even if the child-porn collectors are not actively molesting victims -- kids are still being hurt by the creation of these images.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

Suspect drugged kids with ice cream, prosecutors allege

A new indictment has been filed against James Phillip "Phil" Edwards, 60, a Kansas City man who allegedly hid Ambien in soda and ice cream that he fed to children, who were then molested and filmed for child pornography. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Western Missouri says that happened in five cases, though they have allegedly identified 13 victims. CSKC previously wrote about Edwards, a computer programmer on disability, here.

Sex with 17-year-old is OK, but no pix

In Joplin, a 23-year-old police officer is accused of possessing child pornography, a felony, after videos and pictures of his 17-year-old girlfriend were found on his cellphone, the Joplin Globe reports. He's on administrative leave, and the city still hasn't said how they will deal with him. The Globe's report makes an interesting point about the case:

State and federal laws make possession of nude photographs or videos of anyone younger than 18 illegal. Missouri law, however, does not prohibit someone 21 or older from having consensual sexual relations with a 17-year-old. Statutory sex offenses apply to juveniles younger than 17. Roberts previously declined to comment on the apparent incongruity in the two laws.

The girl, though, says the relationship -- and the photos -- happened before she turned 17.

School board member pleads guilty to child porn

David Buie, a former Hickman Mills school board member and a former KCMO parks employee, has pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing child pornography, the U.S. attorney's office reports. He apparently downloaded child porn at his work computer, and police say they found diskettes with hundreds of images in his vehicle.

Joplin cop accused of having pics of teen girl

From AP: A 23-year-old Joplin police officer has been charged with possessing child pornography after inappropriate images of a 17-year-old girl allegedly were found on his cell phone. Jonathan White of Webb City was charged with the felony on Sunday in Jasper County. He was arrested late Saturday after police investigated a complaint that he was having a relationship with the girl.

Hat Tip: Kathee Baird has more at her blog.

Man used software to create child porn

From Mark Morris: A Kansas City, North man pleaded guilty in federal court today to attempted production of child pornography. Elvon L. Arndt, 66, also agreed in his plea bargain to accept a sentence of 20 years in prison. Arndt acknowledged that he took photographs of a clothed young girl, which he then manipulated with computer software and made her appear to be naked.

What's he cooking? Child porn

A Kansas City man, 37-year-old Travis Cook, has pleaded guilty in federal court to child pornography charges. According to the U.S. Attorney for Western Missouri, Cook wouldn't open his door when authorities showed up:

Upon entering the hallway outside Cook’s apartment, the agent heard popping sounds as though CDs were breaking in half, and other sounds consistent with items being destroyed, coming from inside Cook’s apartment. The agent repeatedly knocked at Cook’s door and asked him to open the door, but Cook did not respond. The agent found a maintenance man for the apartment complex who opened the door to Cook’s apartment.

Agents noticed numerous papers and CD ROM disks strewn about the floor of the apartment and that the laptop’s monitor had been torn off its hinges. One agent noticed that something was burning in a skillet on the stove, which turned out to be the laptop’s melting RAM memory card.

Child advocate accused of making child porn

From Mark Morris: Federal prosecutors have charged a Kansas City pediatric respiratory therapist and child’s advocate with producing and distributing child pornography.

According to federal court documents filed late Tuesday, Michael D. Toal, 55, works as a pediatric respiratory therapist at the University of Kansas Medical Center and serves as a Jackson County Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused children involved in the state court system.

Making child-porn collectors pay

The New York Times has a good article about a topic we've been covering here: Should people who possess child porn be required to pay monetary damages to the victims? (This is just for possession, not creating the images themselves.) Most people probably don't have a problem with that, though some are concerned about the amount. A few offenders have been ordered to pay over $100K, which legal experts claim is excessive punishment.

The article tells the story of a woman named Amy, whose uncle went to prison for taking pornographic pictures of her as a girl. They've turned up in over 800 federal investigations -- since 2005. Economists actually examined her case and calculated that, with the cost of counseling, lost wages, etc., she deserves $3.4 million in damages.

(Missouri is considering something similar. State Sen. Matt Bartle has proposed a bill that would let child-porn victims sue for a minimum of $150K from those who own or distribute the images.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

Local coach posed as girl on Facebook to get child porn

Michael T. Cowley, 39, Shawnee, pleaded guilty to posing as a 19-year-old girl so that boys would send him naked photos of themselves, the U.S. Attorney for Kansas reports. Authorities say Cowley then sent back naked photos of a girl that he found online. He's been sentenced to 17 and a half years. Snip:

Investigators determined that Cowley was employed by the Olathe School District and the Jewish Community Center.

He taught a computer class at Brentwood Elementary School in Overland Park, coached various boys’ baseball and basketball teams, drove a bus route for the California Trail Junior High School in Olathe, Kan., and worked for the Jewish Community Center as director of a summer sports camp for 1st through 6th grade boys and girls.

Mo. bill would let child-porn victims sue

As written, the bill would let victims go after people who possess the images, as well as those who produced them in the first place. The victims would be able to sue for as much as $150,000. (Florida has a similar law in place.) The idea is that private law firms will see these cases as moneymakers, and their suits will be another way to discourage / crack down on child pornographers, the AP reports.

There's a federal law that requires restitution for people who possess child porn, though there have been challenges. A Texas judge ruled that it wasn't OK to fine one convict $3.4 million because the amount was so large as to be an excessive punishment. (He'd possessed two of the victim's photos.)

UPDATE: Soldier accused of child pornography

From AP: The U.S. Army says child pornography charges filed against an Illinois Army National Guard soldier in Afghanistan don't stem from family photos of a young relative. But Army spokesman Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he can't say what the charges against Specialist Billy Miller of Galesburg are based on.

Soldier's family says he's innocent of child-porn charge

In Galesburg, Ill., the family of Spc. Billy Miller are talking to reporters about the soldier and how the military has accused him of possessing child pornography. Miller's family says the photos are of his 4-year-old niece in her swimsuit and are innocent. They're not happy with how the military has been treating him. Miller's unit came home last year, but he's still in Afghanistan, awaiting court martial. Army officials declined to talk about the case with AP.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

Terri and Rodney Miller pose with a portrait of their son, Spc. Billy Miller, on Friday, Jan. 15, 2010, at their home in Galesburg, Ill. Miller, an Illinois National Guard soldier in Afghanistan, has been charged by the U.S. Army with possessing child pornography over pictures of a young relative his mother says she sent him.  (AP Photo/The Register-Mail, Bill Gaither)

Man says he made child porn "for art's sake"

In New York, a freelance photographer has pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage girl -- possibly as young as 11, prosecutors allege. But he can explain!

Michaelangelo Pinzon, 34, tried to sugar coat his crime by insisting he had merely "used a young woman to produce a photograph."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, cripjak!

Could new software help stop child porn online?

Microsoft has come up with a new program that, basically, tracks down child pornography online. Most online searches are based on text. Even when you search for a photo online, you're usually searching for words and captions associated with that text. The new Microsoft program, though, scans images and generates a "mathematical pattern" and finds other instances on the Internet.

A modest proposal: Make defendants pay damages for child porn

Under federal law, people who download child porn can theoretically be ordered to pay damages to the child who was victimized by the photo. In Texas, prosecutors tried to get one defendant to pay $3.4 million to the child whose photos he downloaded, but the judge refused to go along. From the Christian Science Monitor:

Congress did not stop there. The law includes a provision for mandatory payment of "the full amount of the victim's losses" without regard to the economic circumstances of the defendant or whether the victim has received or might receive compensation from other sources.

Thus, federal prosecutors sought $3,367,854 in restitution from Paroline – the full amount of compensation for Amy's earlier sexual abuse and the ongoing traffic in her images.

Judge Davis said it was too much. An order requiring Paroline to pay Amy the entire estimated restitution would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on excessive punishments, the judge said in an 18-page opinion.

Are child-porn convicts punished too harshly?

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets sentences in the federal court system, is taking another look at the punishment for viewing and possessing child pornography. (Just to be clear -- NOT for those convicted of making it.) They've heard from federal judges who think the current rules are too harsh, the Denver Post reports.

In a lot of these cases, the judges say, the defendant has never had inappropriate contact with a child and probably never would. Treatment, not prison, would be a better choice, the judges argue.

"It is too often the case that a defendant appears to be a social misfit looking at dirty pictures in the privacy of his own home without any real prospect of touching or otherwise acting out as to any person," U.S. District Judge Robin J. Cauthron of Oklahoma City said in her testimony to the commission.

"As foul as child pornography is, I am unpersuaded by the suggestion that a direct link has been proven between viewing child porn and molesting children."

But some experts say that tough sentences are necessary. The Post quotes an official from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who says that, whenever child pornography is made, a child is victimized. People who seek out those images are feeding the market and, thus, encourage more child porn to be made.

Suspect had creepy home decor, police say

In Kenosha, Wis., police say they found child pornography in a suspect's home ... and some very unusual decorations:

Other posters, printed computer images and framed photos of children in erotic or sexual poses, decorated the walls, cupboards and shelves in Derks’ apartment. Four mannequins — two adult females, two children — were posed in “tender” positions, the complaint says.

Derks also collected paraphernalia related to celebrity children, including:

— Underwear from the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen clothing line.

— A Hannah Montana lamp, which Derks embellished with a suggestive phrase.

— Photos of actress Dakota Fanning and kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart, which Derks kept next to his toy-covered bed.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Was this really a case of child pornography?

In Chattanooga, a 23-year-old man was convicted of taking naked photos of his 14-year-old girlfriend. But the judge who sentenced him wondered if this was really child pornography.

"He was ... having sex with a 14-year-old. I don't think society gives out medals for that," U.S. District Judge Harry S. "Sandy" Mattice said at the Monday sentencing. "But let's face it, some individuals like to photograph their sexual activities."

The judge argued this was primarily a case of statutory rape, not child pornography. The man's defense attorney said he didn't fit the profile of a typical offender and was actually in love with the teen.

Police didn't have to go far to catch child-porn suspect

In Adams, Mass., a police officer is accused of downloading and "enjoying" child pornography -- in his department's evidence room.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, You're A Mean Drunk R2D2!

Man drugged ice cream, took pictures of naked girls, feds allege

James Phillip “Phil” Edwards of south Kansas City is facing child-pornography charges in federal court, Tony Rizzo reports. Specifically, the authorities say Edwards would feed ice cream laced with sedatives to girls who were 6 to 12 years old, then photograph them naked. Investigators say they found the images on a file-sharing site and tracked them back to Edwards' machine. He's a former computer programmer who's been on disability.