89 are indicted in online porn case
Posted on 03/19/2002 12:13:48 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
89 are indicted in online porn case
East Texas man accused of setting up Web site; 7 other Texans indicted
03/19/2002
WASHINGTON - Clergy members, Little League coaches and a teacher's aide are among the 89 people charged with participating in an Internet site where hard-core child pornography was traded, federal authorities said Monday.
Forty arrests in 20 states had been made as of Monday, among them that of an East Texas man alleged to have set up the "Candyman" site visited by more than 7,000 people until its shutdown last year during an investigation initiated by the Houston FBI office. Fifty more arrests will occur this week, said Bruce Gebhardt, an FBI executive assistant director.
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"It is clear that a new marketplace for child pornography has emerged in the dark corners of cyberspace," Attorney General John Ashcroft told a news conference at FBI headquarters. However, he said, the arrests prove "there will be no free rides on the Internet for traffickers of child pornography."
The man alleged to have set up the "Candyman" e-group in December 2000 Mark Bates, a 32-year-old from Palestine made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Tyler, federal authorities said. He is among eight people charged in a 10-count federal indictment unsealed Monday in Houston.
Also indicted were seven Texans alleged to have subscribed to the site: Walter Eugene Fitzpatrick, 61, of Liverpool; Robert Froman, 49, of Pasadena; Stephen Michael Johnston, 21, of College Station; Hector Ezeta, 38, of Houston; Jayson Anderson, 28, of Baytown; Billy Loyd White, 45, of Channelview; and Christopher James Tinney, 20, of Katy.
All eight in the Houston indictment were charged with a single count of conspiracy to knowingly transport, receive and distribute child porn by computer, which carries a maximum 15 years' imprisonment and $250,000 fine. Mr. Bates alone was charged with a single count of knowingly transporting child porn by computer, while the seven others were each charged with one count of receiving child porn by computer all of which carry a maximum 15-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. And the seven were also each charged with a single count of possession of materials containing images of child pornography, which carries a maximum five-year sentence and $250,000 fine.
The Houston indictment alleges that Candyman subscribers were polled on questions such as whether they wanted to see more pornographic images of boys or girls; the age at which they first began abusing children; and the number of children they had molested.
Twenty-seven of those arrested to date have admitted molesting more than 36 children, the FBI said.
Operation Candyman was initiated 14 months ago, after an FBI agent in Houston identified three e-groups involved in posting and exchanging child pornography, the FBI said. FBI officials in Washington declined to provide particulars of the arrests, though they said two Catholic priests as well as several law-enforcement personnel were among those charged.
Investigators examined the 7,000 Candyman subscribers, which included 2,400 people living outside the United States, and prioritized which ones to investigate further, Mr. Gebhardt said.
E-mail: mmittelstadt@dallasnews.com
Clergy members, Little League coaches and a teacher's aide are among the 89 people charged...
...wonder how many were boy scout leaders?
I agree. Any suggestions on what we can do? I'm livid!
But what's this crap about charging these guys with only one count? EACH picture/video should be one count.
It's the usual exploitation of children by pedophiles. At least some are getting caught.
It also amazes me that the DEA is busting terminal cancer patients daring to self-medicate themselves in California. I would rather see the DEA reassigned to anti-terrorist details.
I spoke about this with my teaching partner today, who is majoring in social work and has been working with sexually abused children. Even she couldn't believe that the DOJ was doing anything with this, when there's probably terrorists crawling out of the woodwork.
WFAA TV Video
http://www.wfaa.com/popups/03-02/18wfaa020318_am_candyman.html
I would like to start beating a drum so they would start listening -- people need to be up in arms that this is happening in this Country and around the world. They used a Yahoo group to ship this all around which is astounding! I am just glad that for whatever reason they got caught!
Very good point! Could it be why the silence on here? Does make you wonder!
Hang in there and keep fighting for what's right. This is the first positive step towards ending this violence against children since January 1993!
Help GW to gain control of the senate to get some conservative judges not the predator ACLU judges on our federal benches. Then you will see big changes as the predator ACLU and their like become targets for what they advocate re violence towards children and no justice to the predators!
DOJ is doing a very good job on terrorists but that doesn't mean that they, DEA, and the rest of Federal Law Enforcement have to concentrate solely on Terrorists and let other crimes go unpunished.
I give it up to Attorney General Ashcroft and the people at DOJ who broke this case! They have my full support!
And you are a teacher? Lord help us!
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