Man makes startling discovery in break-in

Dayton Daily News ^ | 10/28/03 | Nancy Bowman

[arjay]

TROY | A 20-year-old man burglarizing an apartment pried open a tackle box and found nude photos of young girls, including his little sister.

The man turned himself and the pictures into police, who later arrested the apartment's tenant, a registered sex offender now facing a possible life sentence after being charged with rape of a child under the age of 13 and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material.

Police said the rape charge against Richard Yearsley, 51, involved sexual touching in March of a child who was just under 4.

The 20-year-old man told police he watched Yearsley, whom he knew, leave the apartment and broke in once he left. Police said he then became enraged when he saw his 4-year-old sister's picture among "numerous" Polaroid photos of nude or partially nude young girls inside the tackle box.

He showed some of the photos to the building maintenance man, who convinced him to go to the police.

Police then searched the apartment late Friday and found photos of other young children in various states of dress.

The man said he knew what he had done was wrong, but "he knew that Yearsley was involved in something much worse and had to be stopped," according to the police report.

Police said that Yearsley admitted to taking photos of four other children during the past couple of years, and sexually touching some of them.

Wayne Willcox, deputy Piqua police chief, said the 20-year-old's case was referred to the city prosecutor to determine what charges will be filed.

Yearsley was registered as a sexually oriented offender with the Miami County Sheriff's Office following a 1995 conviction in Miami County for felony gross sexual imposition and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Bail for Yearsley was set at $150,000 at arraignment Monday in Miami County Municipal Court.

Yearsley's preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday .

The Dayton Daily News is not identifying the 20-year-old man in order to protect the identity of his sister.

[John123]

Will this case gets dismissed because the EVIDENCE was ILLEGALLY obtained?

No. The 20 year old burglar was not working for the police.

[shadowman99]

This needs a 'just damn' ping

[Egon]

Kind of sparse on information. The way I'm reading it is the guy only broke into the apartment because he suspected the resident of child pornography-- maybe didn't realize his sister was a victim.

In a similar circumstance, I might have waited for the guy to come home...

[Poohbah]

Man, that pervert's going to have a short yet miserable life.

[arjay]

The DDN is one of the most liberal rags I have ever seen. Yours may be the only good comment I will ever see about them from a conservative.

[grumple]

Sounds like the burglar knew more about the tenant's predatory, pedophillic activities (possibly via his younger sister) and was following up on what the police would or could not do without probable cause.

The burglar will probably get some form of moderate probation.

The cops may have actually used him in this case also.

[nightdriver]

"He's got some guts & his heart must be in the right place to stick his neck out & turn this guy in and convict himself at the same time."

It might appear so at first blush, but are we really naive enough to believe that this 20 year-old would have done that if it wasn't HIS 4 year-old in the picture?

[libbytarian]

After moving to Dayton and reading the DDN I understood why Cinci talk radio always called Dayton, "The peoples Republic of Dayton".

Libby

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

"No. The 20 year old burglar was not working for the police."

Not true!!!! Unless........the State prosecutes the burglar. If they "cut him a sweet deal", then he's working for the State. BOTH should be prosecuted AND the appartment manager should also be prosecuted IF he entered the appartment to see the evidence. Most states require an advance notification of the tenent, before an apartment owner, or those in his employ, are allowed to enter an apartment.

[Capt. Tom]

The lawyer for the sex offender will probably argue it was a planned break to get evidence against his client by an interested party.
It is the same as a warrantless search under the disguise of a break in. The evidence is not admissable. - Tom

[FreedomPoster]

It's been quite the day for pedophile stories.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1009255/posts

[11th Commandment]

I say arrest him and forget to read him his Miranda Rights.

[waterstraat]

I believe this man can be rehabilitated.

I dont believe either one can be rehabilitated. They both should be in prison. Doing one "good" act(even if it was for revenge) doesnt change anything. Al Capone operated soup kitchens, but that didnt change the fact that he had people killed. This isnt "one for one", doing one good act cancels out a bad act - doenst work that way. Even if you only do one bad thing your entire life(e.g. murder Sharon Tate) that doesnt mean we should let you go or reduce your sentence.

[11th Commandment]

Wonder what they will do to the burglar.

I say arrest him and forget to read him his Miranda Rights.

[tdadams]

Yes, exactly what I was thinking. I hope they'll find some way to make the charges stick, but it doesn't look good, considering the circumstances.

[pgkdan]

I wonder if he was really burglarizing that apartment or if he knew exactly what he was looking for? Maybe the burglary story's been concocted to protect the evidence. I'm obviously not an attorney but this seems like much to much of a coincidence to me.

[Blood of Tyrants]

To play the devil's advocate, if I were the pervert's lawyer, I would claim that the pictures belonged to the guy who broke in and were planted to force the pervert out of the area. This could REALLY spell trouble for the burglar.

However, the freak's confession will be tough to discount.

[Publius6961]

I thought evidence obtained illegally was never admissible.
Or is this applicable only to law enforcement?

[Cobra Scott]

In addition, he will have to admit that he broke in, and that raises doubt as to whether the pics were found, or were planted...

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Of course the burglar.

Pedophiles can not be rehabilitated, they should be made to
meet their maker.