![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_RNdRcWxZRxI/SVWHE81uXzI/AAAAAAAAAA0/vGF6EmAZNBk/s320/Wade-Sanders.jpg")
But, 'good ole boy' Wade Sanders (who was caught with CHILD PORN) is somehow a freaking hero to them!
I won't even ask where the MSM's reporting on this because we know they only report on what they think we should know!
Posted on 05/03/2009 5:11:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
FEDERAL COURT — War hero, activist, former high-ranking Pentagon official – Wade Sanders has led a life full of peril and achievement, of great highs and deep lows.
Just a few years ago, Sanders stood onstage at the Democratic National Convention as his fellow veteran, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., accepted his party's presidential nomination.
That was a high point.
Tomorrow afternoon in federal court in San Diego likely will be a low point for him.
Sanders, 69, is scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty in December to possession of child pornography.
He could face as much as 10 years in prison after federal agents found child pornography on several of his home computers.
Just as Sanders once stood behind Kerry, the senator is now standing behind him. In one of dozens of letters submitted on behalf of Sanders, Kerry urged U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan to weigh Sanders' record of service and community work when making a decision on sentencing.
The hearing promises to be dramatic, with more than 50 people lining up in support of Sanders. In addition to Kerry, they include former U.S. senator and war hero Max Cleland of Georgia, who headed the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter.
Also offering support are former Rep. Lynn Schenk of San Diego, a lawyer and longtime friend of Sanders; and numerous retired Navy officers, friends and relatives of Sanders. Bernie Jones, the Opinion page editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, where numerous commentaries by Sanders have been published over the years, also wrote a letter opposing a prison term.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessandra Serano is seeking a 63-month sentence for Sanders, as well as a requirement that he register as a sex offender and be on 10 years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
The case against Sanders started in October 2007, when an FBI agent went online to search for people sharing child pornography using a file-sharing computer network.
The agent entered a search term widely used by pornographers, and among the results returned was one that eventually linked to Sanders' home computer.
A few months later, FBI agents raided Sanders' San Diego home. In court papers, Serano said three computers seized in the raid had child pornography on them.
Sanders and his attorney, Knut Johnson, say that Sanders was downloading the images as part of a research project on the subject. In her court papers, Serano noted that at the time of the raid, Sanders never told this to FBI agents.
Serano also said no notes or other materials relating to a research project were found. In a meeting with prosecutors before he pleaded guilty, Sanders did produce three pages of handwritten notes that were undated, she said.
Sanders also is arguing that his work was a product of an obsessive-compulsive disorder he has developed. He claims it is a product of post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said is a crippling residue of his combat service.
Sanders was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart in his military career. He led a Swift boat on numerous missions in Vietnam, often coming under intense fire and harrowing circumstances.
In a 13-page statement to Whelan, Sanders talks at length about that experience and how it shaped him. “There is a part of me that died in Vietnam and now, for the first time in my life I am facing that reality,” it begins.
One symptom of PTSD is compulsive behavior, Johnson argued. He said Sanders became “obsessed about writing an article or otherwise uncovering the source of child pornography.”
In his letter, Kerry lauded Sanders' record in the war and after, when Sanders became a prominent advocate for veterans' causes.
“The Wade Sanders I know is someone who has always put love of country first,” Kerry wrote. “He's been an advocate for his friends, his fellow veterans, his state and his country.”
Just curious... did you have Google's "SafeSearch" filter enabled? If it was disabled, I'm not surprised you saw some... amazing... things. But if enabled, it's usually pretty good at filtering out the weirder stuff. (It's under "Preferences" on the Google search page.)
BTW, I learned this while doing a search for a gift for my daughter, searching on "girls toys". Yikes!!
wrong answer
Cambodia too, to hear him tell it.
Maybe he hasn't paid his taxes, qualifying him to be an Obama appointee.
That might save him from his just consequences!
I just threw up a little in my mouth...
PTSD is now a rationale for everything and everybody.
The medicalization of irrational and immoral and dangerous behavior.
There is no crime there is no standard there is no law-—the psychowackos have taken over and welcome to the post modern secular relativism of the NWO.
I’d be inclined to give a combat veteran the benefit of every doubt.
IMHO....there is NO excuse for this behavior.
Max had his own (phone) sex scandal down here in Georgia.
But, 'good ole boy' Wade Sanders (who was caught with CHILD PORN) is somehow a freaking hero to them!
I won't even ask where the MSM's reporting on this because we know they only report on what they think we should know!
“Notice that they keep referring to Max Cleland as a “hero” when he’s no such thing.”
He lost his limbs serving his country in Vietnam. That makes him a hero in my book.
Do you object to the firefighters who died on 9-11 being called heros?
Those who put themselves in danger on our behalf deserve our respect.
Sanders, a lawyer, said he didn't realize federal child pornography laws barred downloading or viewing the material even by researchers. He said that is why he decided to plead guilty.
“I thought since my motives were pure and innocent, that would make a difference,” he said. “I'm technically guilty of the crime.”
On May 2, 2008, agents executed a search warrant at Sanders’ home and seized his computer. During the search, Sanders (a lawyer) admitted he had downloaded child pornography using the file-sharing program, but said he deleted the files once he noticed they were downloaded, according to the FBI statement.
He also denied “any inappropriate contact with children,” Caruthers wrote.
The FBI searched the computer and found “multiple videos depicting child pornography” saved on the hard drive.
Sanders said he believes he is a victim of zealous prosectors.
“I got caught in the net,” he said. “I’m not the kind of person they were after.”
Wade Rowland Sanders: Motives For Child Porn Were “Pure and Innocent”
http://www.inquisitr.com/12983/wade-rowland-sanders/
October 2007: Investigation into Wade Rowland Sanders begins; FBI agents report finding pornographic images of children on a computer in Sanders’ home via a filesharing network
• May 2008: Agents seize Sanders’ computer; Sanders reportedly admits to having the images but says he deleted the files immediately after their downloads
• May 2008: The FBI finds multiple videos showing child pornography on Sanders’ hard drive, according to official documents obtained by the Tribune
• November 2008: Sanders is arrested
• December 2008: Sanders pleads guilty to one felony charge of possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct
He had worked with the Clinton administration on helping child sex abuse victims internationally, he says, and had downloaded the files to research an article related to the subject. He claims he didn’t know viewing the material for research purposes would constitute a crime.
Congrats, Kerry. Nice company you keep.
-PJ
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