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
Anyhow one older kid kept up with the harsh Language after several warnings, finally I had enough and warned him next offense and he was banned from my store forever (And when I say forever I ain't kidding)well of course someone made him mad he used the "F"-word and I of course showed him the door...
Now it is amazing how fast Parents want to get involved when they think their Child is being denied his Rights (sic) (this is a whole other story I will not relate here) anyhow when I patiently explained the whole story to the father he basically realized there was no way his kid was coming back and left right after using a few of the "harshest" words himself and in front of youngsters... I thought the matter settled...
Within a few days suddenly I am getting nearly 100 XXX Rated e-mails a day and I mean some of the raunchiest stuff I have ever seen... Beastiality, Gay, Defecation, etc. all of it advertisement...
I do the Unsuscribe deal and seem to get rid of most of it then all of the sudden I am spammed by some seriously disgusting Kiddie porn crap and I immediately call my ISP to get it stopped they did their best but I had to resort to changing my e-mail... I told them I wanted action on the matter and finally they figured out that my little buddy who I kicked out of the store was responsible for the mess he even hacked into my e-mail account (I guess at the time it was way to easy with my Isps e-mail server to hack it) I told em lets nail this little butthole and they told me they wouldn't because he was underage... I said fine I was contacting the local sheriff...
well when the Sheriff got back to me he said strangely the ISP had lost all the info on the incident...
I wonder if it had anything to do with this little butthole's Dad being a prominent Banker-type in our local community???
I guess what is ever best for the children ehh?
People like this guy just makes me ill! First try and force someone to put up with his unruly Kid because he has "rights" (sic) and secondly when the kid has clearly broken the law he uses his connections to make the matter disappear...
Maybe it's not healthy to look into the deep caverns of male psychology, at least the sickest ones, but there has to be a reason that men are more prone to porn than women.
I'm most concerned about the children who have been exploited by this carnage of child porn. And I am heartened that there are still some decent people who are speaking out. Sometimes you wonder if there are any decent people left in this world.
There is no such thing as "unsubscribing" from spam. All the spammer will do when you submit your request or even reply to the spam is confirm that your email address is a "live" one then sell it to other spammers, ensuring that you will receive even more spam.
In your case, about the only way to reduce the amount of spam you get is to go after the mailing lists that don't verify subscription requests. To do it the hard way, learn to read email headers and complain about each and every spam you get to the originating ISP and/or their upstream. An easier way is to simply forward these spam emails to your ISP (with full headers) and let them help clean up the mess.
I know exactly what you mean. It has bothered me on here that only a few of us that have posted on these threads seem to be upset by this activity. I just don't get it!
I'll return the compliment: you're an idiot.
So what if they're charged with more than one count? Why is it any skin off your nose? Why are you defending pedophiles? Identify with them, perhaps? (Remember, you started the flame war when you called me "stupid," so I'm sure you can take it.)
It's mere slothfulness on the part of the prosecutor--the prosecutor charges the slime with one count, embarasses the pedophile by publishing his name, then plea bargains the charge down from a felony to a misdemeanor, a little jail time (if any), a little fine, maybe a year or so probation--all worked out in the back room, no harm, no foul--and after they're off paper, they're back in business.
The Bush group on Yahoo during the the campaign was spammed by gay porn which was really sick -- think about opening an email with the heading of picture of GW and Laura and getting two guys -- still gives me the creeps. We complained to Yahoo, they did nothing but I complained to AOL as a subscriber and they sprang into action to investigate and after a short time we had no more problems.
Now I find out that this porn group was on Yahoo who refused to do anything to get rid of the gay porn our group was getting sent during the election -- really made me wonder!
These perps don't seem plagued with any quilt or remorse or anything else but satisfying their abnormal lust. The only thing that bothers them is getting found out, and that only to the extent . . .
Yes, that's part of it. People don't have consciences any more to a great extent. It must have happened while they were growing up somehow.
Was it always this way? Do I have a naive view of the past where people only very rarely gave in to such abnormal desires?
I can understand your outrage but mindless comments like yours are just ridiculous. It's supposed to be a justice system where people are punished according to the severity of their crime.
Interesting, about the mindless comments ..I must have missed the trial and conviction of Westerfield, I thought in this country he was innocent untill proven guilty in a court of law...
No, and I think it's clear my opinion of this filth from other posts. However, especially now, we have limited federal resources, limited numbers of law enforcement officers and they have a pretty full plate. As destructive as kiddie porn is, it is far more vital to track down the terrorists before we worry about the kiddie porn, especially people just "using" it, not the producers. If this was a ring of actual kiddie porn producers, I'd say go for it. As it sounds now, it sounds like misallocated resources.
Have whatever reaction you want - call me names, make implications. I'm a pragmatist, and so are most cops and feds. You're the only cop in a one cop town, and there's a guy on one side of the street smoking a joint, and one commiting rape on the other, you're going to bust the rapist and ignore the potsmoker - for now anyway.
Others on this thread seem to be waiting with baited breath for some kind of crackdown on all "porn" - I assume everything from Playboy to Debbie Does Dallas falls under that. If Ashcroft (who I voted for twice for Governor and Senator in Missouri and supported as AG) goes after the California porn industry (as that Frontline seemed to suggest) me and a whole lot of other former supporters are going to bail on him. Incredible that it's even being discussed while the nation is at war and possibly rotten with foreign agents. My guess is that it's not being discussed anymore.
While not porn "user", it's protected by the first amendment and the stuff that violates local standards of decency is to be prosecuted on the local level. The Feds have no business getting involved in that issue.
Interesting that no one commented on the way they're going after the medicinal pot smokers in CA. I guess some things are too repellent even for this crowd to support.
At the time I ran Magic TOurnaments and Had A Website on which I posted the Results, also had one of those little Bulletin Boards, and also listed product to sell (before I went exclusively to e-bay) anyhow I had my e-mail address listed on the website. Most of the players would e-maill me prior to the tournaments to secure a slot it seemed to work fine (this was about 4 maybe 5 years ago BTW) but I had to change everything and shut down the B-board... the little freak would spam the board with some fairly disgusting language and suggestions as well.
BTW I am not with that ISP any longer and the little butthole ended up getting busted some drug stuff and actually served some time (wow there is a shocker) of course now he is getting some kind of college courses provided by the government... doesn't it feel good to know your tax dollars are going to such a worthy cause... :-p
Oh well I can dream can't I
Sorry, but tolerance of theft is not an option for me. I delete the spammer's Internet account instead.
I know the legal scenario all to well. The first thing the pedophiles are going to do is to get lawyered up, then they'll start their "he's a respected member of the community" tapdance to make sure their guy isn't punished in any meaningful way.
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