Frustrated Prosecutor Dusek Swats At Final Bug Expert: Westerfield's Soon Will BUG The Jury....

Court TV ^ | August 2, 2002 | Harriet Ryan

[Krodg]

I think the quote in this article is really strange. It almost sounds like she knows what happened and things got out of hand.

"My biggest hope is for someone to realize right now this has gotten big and they made a big mistake and let my daughter walk away," Brenda van Dam said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

[Freedom2specul8]

I just believe that there are over active imaginations about some of this... that's all. if the fbi can located 7000 pedophiles in britain, don't you think they could figure out if the vd's were?

[bvw]

And what does Damon mean by "either way" in that quote? It wasn't needed to express the thought about still having the boys, it's an stand-alone early modifier in the whole expression. I'd guess he had formed the thought about "still having the boys" and for some reason felt compelled to add the modifier "either way" -- first, not last.

[Krodg]

It was about time she got a speech writer.

[hoosiermama]

HERE AN ARTICLE THAT SAYS NO OTHER IN SD?


International ring used Internet to distribute photos, prosecutors say

By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 21, 2002

Two men from San Diego and Poway are facing child molestation and Internet child pornography charges from what authorities say is an international ring uncovered by a Swedish watchdog group.

Other arrests in the case also have been made in Central California, Germany and Denmark, authorities said yesterday.

The case demonstrates how computers allow child pornography to be distributed rapidly across great distances, said local officials, who also launched a drive to alert parents about the dangers of letting children roam the Internet without supervision.

Paul Whitmore, a child and family counselor from Grantville, pleaded not guilty yesterday to 23 child molestation and child pornography charges involving two girls ages 10 and 13.

Whitmore was originally charged with 11 counts last month, but with the additional charges a San Diego Superior Court judge doubled his bail to $2 million.

Whitmore also allowed another man, Brooke Rowland, 40, of Poway, to abuse one of the girls he was abusing, said San Diego District Attorney Paul Pfingst.

"They're exchanging kids," Pfingst said.

Rowland, a salesman for an outdoor advertising company, is scheduled to be arraigned in San Diego Superior Court today on child molestation and pornography charges involving five children, said prosecutor Jeffrey Dort.

Rowland is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

In a separate case that prosecutors said is also tied to cyberspace child abuse, David Martineau, the federal fire chief in charge of protecting San Diego County's military facilities, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he sexually abused a 15-year-old boy he met on the Internet.

At a news conference announcing billboards, bus ads and a Web site, Pfingst said parents must adapt the lessons they learned as children to a world in which sexual predators use the Internet.

"There are people who wake up in the morning, and their goal that day is to talk to young people," he said. "You think your kids are talking to a friend from school, and your kids are talking to a 34-year-old person."

The Web site – www.dasafenet.com – recommends that parents monitor their children's Internet use and keep the family computer in a central part of the home, among other things.

Prosecutors said Whitmore and Rowland were part of a child pornography ring in which they exchanged pictures and video of themselves molesting girls to other Internet users.

The investigation in that case began in November after the Swedish affiliate of the child advocacy group Save The Children tipped off police about new child pornography they found on the Internet, according to court records.

So far, police in Denmark, Germany and the Fresno suburb of Clovis have arrested people accused of being members of the ring, court records show. Whitmore was arrested last month by investigators looking into pictures found on a computer seized in Denmark, records show.

After arresting him Jan. 27, San Diego police found cameras, computers, photos and videotapes at Whitmore's home, as well as leather restraints, rope and handcuffs, according to court records.

Whitmore lost his job as a child counselor and computer expert at the Stein Education Center in Grantville after he was arrested.

None of the abused children were students at the school, prosecutors and police said yesterday.

Whitmore's attorney, Gary Roberts, refused to comment on the case yesterday.

Rowland was arrested Friday after pictures of him abusing a girl were found on Whitmore's computer, police said.

The investigation is continuing, but Whitmore and Rowland, who have known each other for years, are the only two San Diego County men suspected as part of the international ring, Dort said.

Authorities around the country are looking for possible links to the ring, said San Diego police Sgt. Dave Jones, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is coordinating the investigation locally.

But because the Internet is impossible to control, Jones said, child pornography created by members of the ring may reappear elsewhere.

"It's out there forever," he said. "There's no way to take it back."

[Freedom2specul8]

Pot heads aren't necessarily very "verbal" if you know what I mean.

[bvw]

Kim, I wish I could read that the way you'd like, but even in those two quotes, I find pause as to Brenda's honesty.

The second also could be a memorized line from a press release, but in that Brenda leads with the "I would hope that if she sees me". It's the "if she sees me" that is a possible gainsay, a possible escape clause to the rest.

[Krodg]

I don't really know, but I'll take your word for it.:)

[Freedom2specul8]

:) I'm just "guessing" of course..

[Krodg]

I knew that.:)

[fatima]

Maybe he told the truth,if he lied he knew his Father might go to jail to death or receive a death sentence,maybe he wanted to save his Father but could not lie because there was something else.

[Freedom2specul8]

I respect your opinion, you know that...i just can't pick apart the parents feelings or grief. I think i told you why in the past.

[hoosiermama]

Fatima the computer was in use (porn) while DW was at the police station. It was was used to check Neal's e-mail at the same time IIRC. If he lied, he lied to cover himself. (His mother was present Probably didn't want her to know)

[Krodg]

What else was there? Are you saying that he knew his father was guilty?

[cyncooper]

Re: felon. Well, I'm back and reading up on the thread and got this far so don't know if someone else has posted to your comments regarding this.

There is no felon that has testified. I posted from the jury instruction hearing yesterday and the judge said they weren't going to give that instruction since there were no witnesses with convictions. I had posted it to John Jamieson.

[fatima]

But what about his Father,many strangers on this forum fight for his life-his son lie's to protect himself to see his father die'this does not make sense

[JudyB1938]

It makes sense to me. Honorable people don't lie, no matter what the consequences are. Not once have they caught Westerfield in a lie. I think he taught his son those same ethics.

[cyncooper]

it's something I don't remember hearing! (not reacting to the recovery site..would like to read more about that)

I posted Det. Tomsavec (sp??) testimony the other day. He was called by the defense and I actually posted the entire direct exam. He stated then that at the body recovery site he didn't notice the dogs react.

On cross-exam by Dusek he said he wasn't really observing the dogs,though. It struck me because he said they could smell an odor when they got on the ground. (But when Dusek clarified he wasn't really watching for their reactions it made me wonder if they had reacted and the handler would have to testify---no reason to, the body was there, they alreay knew).

I had posted the excerpt because of the greasy drag marks made by parts of her body/entrails.

[fatima]

What else was there? Are you saying that he knew his father was guilty?
The question is if he told the truth he could have saved his Father,why did he not,if the truth is it was his porn,he might go to jail-little girl being raped porn but he would not die,he said no so his father might die.

[JudyB1938]

Did he say anything about the ones who had lied?