Posted on 12/23/2004 4:10:45 AM PST by Theodore R.
Businessman to plead guilty to selling porn
By PENNY BROWN ROBERTS proberts@theadvocate.com Advocate staff writer
A Gonzales businessman plans to plead guilty to selling sexually explicit images of children on the Internet, a court document shows.
Daniel Lensky, also known as Daniel Haist, 63, 40434 Black Bayou Extension, is scheduled for rearraignment before U.S. District Judge James Brady in early January.
A memo to lawyers in the case made public Wednesday indicates federal prosecutors have reached a plea agreement, but does not detail its terms.
Lensky faces five counts of trafficking sexually explicit images of children, each of which carries up to 15 years in prison. The businessman -- who is being held in West Baton Rouge Parish Prison -- has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Lensky was the owner of Stage Fright Productions, 7414 Townsouth Ave., in Baton Rouge.
Investigators claim they have seized dozens of images of children engaged in various sexual acts -- including one that depicts a nude 10- to 12-year-old girl straddling an also-nude Lensky on a bed.
U.S. Attorney David Dugas declined to comment on the case.
But Lensky's lawyer, Frank Holthaus, confirmed Wednesday that his client plans to plead guilty to all five counts.
"He wasn't disputing the facts of the statute and he's pleading as charged," Holthaus said. "But at the time there was a bunch of furor about other irrelevant claims and ugly accusations. He was never going to agree to anything until those were withdrawn or no longer part of any accusation. He's just pleading to what he did; none of that plays a role in this."
Holthaus was referring to a criminal complaint federal investigators filed in May.
The complaint noted Lensky leased space to the Global Relationship Center, a Baton Rouge organization that offers personal enrichment training for children and adults.
The complaint also mentioned that Lensky volunteered to supervise a play at Galvez Middle School. According to the criminal complaint, Lensky "had contact with children participating in the play outside the rehearsal setting" on at least two occasions against the teacher's instruction. Holthaus said those portions of the complaint will not be considered as part of the facts of the case.
The complaint also alleged that Lensky advertised a summer acting camp for children ages 11 to 16 that included an e-mail address authorities say also was used to post child pornography on the Internet.
In October 2000, an FBI undercover agent in Phoenix found Haist advertising "preteen pictures and movies" under the nickname "dcwolfee7," according to the criminal complaint.
On four other occasions, that agent, a Pennsylvania state trooper and law enforcement authorities in Baton Rouge investigating child pornography on the Internet, linked Lensky to dozens of images depicting children as young as 7 engaged in sex.
Executive Director of the L.A. Democratic Party???...another outstanding example of liberalism.
My suggestion for distributors of child-porn is that they have their crime written on a sign around their necks, and no special protection in prison. I believe that the other inmates would then do all in their power to reform the character of said person.
I don't understand your comments or the other guy's upthread. The judge is supervising a plea agreement that the feds worked out. The judge didn't do anything nefarious and is not the perp. The sentence hasn't been announced but I will go reread the article.
Agreed. In Angola, the guy probably wouldn't last a week in general population.
So what is your point? The Judge hasnt done anything other than be there and the plea agreement has not been worked out. He is a Judge. You may not be aware but Louisiana didn't really have a repub party of any consequence until recently. And Louisiana dems are very conservative.
I was just pointing out that this judge is probably a Clinton appointee. It was merely information for the reader.
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