17 Arrested for Sexually Exploiting Children

It's a crime that victimizes children and it happens thousands of times a day with the click of a button. We first told you about this story last week when police raided a house in Monument. Now police are up to 17 arrests.

Investigators say they're all men who now face felony charges of sexually exploiting children. "People have a tendency to think it's just a video, it's just a picture," says Sgt. Bill Dehart with the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit at the Colorado Springs Police Department, "the reality is that's a child being abused."

In a week's time, police executed several search warrants at homes across southern Colorado. "We're actually doing onsite forensic examinations, recovering databases," says Dehart of what officers are collecting. It's all part of an extensive investigation called Operation Peerless Summer, referencing the peer-to-peer online networks where people are trading child porn.

"If you're sharing those images, those videos on their computer, anyone can find them," says Dehart. Investigators say the ultimate goal is to put a stop to the production of child porn. They've found no evidence yet of children being abused locally.

"We're talking about protecting children," Dehart says. Investigators say they expect additional arrests and say people who commit Internet child porn crimes could be anywhere. Investigators say telling people the crime is happening is part of the battle to stop it.

"The word is getting out," says Dehart, "we're talking about people actively trading child pornography and it's not something people should do." But people are doing and after so many arrests, officers say the crime crosses geographical and socioeconomic boundaries.

"There is no profile where this person is the one, we need to look at," Dehart says. Investigators say they know where to look and how to find out who's trading child pornography online. They say you should be just as aware of what's arriving on your computer.

"You suspect somebody has these images on a computer, it's the old adage, you'll know it when you see it," says Dehart. Investigators say many of the offenders have several hundred images on their hard drives. "You're looking at the memorialization of abuse and it's illegal to possess," says Dehart of online child porn.

Investigators say it's important to talk with your kids about what's appropriate and what's not online to make sure your children don't become victims.
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http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x1974617053/Inside-a-child-porn-bust

Sengkeo Phanaphay Charged with Aggravated Sexual Abuse

A Sioux City man faces sexual abuse and child pornography charges. 47-year-old Sengkeo Phanaphay is charged with aggravated sexual abuse, production of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. He allegedly crossed a state line with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a child. The indictment also alleges he planned to produce child pornography of that act. If convicted he faces life in prison.
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More Information: http://iowaindependent.com/16537/sioux-city-man-arrested-for-child-porn-sexual-abuse

Art Arnold Weller Charged with Exchanging Child Porn

An Ocean Shores restaurant cook who got deferred prosecution on a child molesting charge 25 years ago was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for receiving child pornography.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, 49-year-old Art Arnold Weller came to the attention of FBI agents investigating the exchange of child pornography through peer-to-peer file-sharing technology.

Agents wrote that they found 2,967 pornographic still images and 301 videos on his computer in January 2008, many showing children younger than age 12.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion writes that while Weller was not accused of child molesting after the case a quarter-century ago, the pornography episode shows " he has failed to get his demons under control."

Michael Lisbon Charged with Sexually Assaulting Girl

A Somerset County man being questioned Friday during the investigation of the rape and sexual assault of a child in 2006 was also charged with drug violations after state police said they found he was in possession of cocaine and marijuana, state police said.

Michael Eugene Lisbon, 28, of Jennerstown, was charged yesterday in the sexual assault of a girl who was 10 at the time of the incident. He was jailed in the Somerset County Jail on $50,000 bond in that case, which is still under investigation, police said.
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09171/978872-100.stm

Richard Minifie Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Porn

A Woodinville health-insurance consultant faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

Richard L. Minifie, 44, changed his plea this morning in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Sentencing was set for October. He remains in custody.

Minifie was arrested June 5 at his Woodinville home by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who investigate Internet pornography cases. Prosecutors said he had about 600 explicit images on his computer.

Investigators first learned of Minifie's activities in March 2008 when they arrested a Virginia man and found evidence on his computer that he had traded hundreds of images online with Minifie.

After his prison term, Minifie will be on probation for 20 years and will have to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.
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http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/archives/171902.asp

Joseph Eugene Council Arrested for Child Porn

Police have arrested a former Pass Christian choir and band teacher on child pornography charges that allegedly involve a 14-year-old girl.

Long Beach Assistant Police Chief Don Bass identified him as Joseph Eugene Council, 32, of Edmund Drive in Long Beach. He resigned his position in April.

Council is charged with enticing a child to produce a visual depiction of sexual conduct, computer luring for sexual purposes and possession of child pornography. Police said he teaches at Pass Christian Middle School and Pass Christian High School.

Justice Court Judge Diane Ladner set bond at $75,000.

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http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=10575303

Karl Allen Dreyer Sentence to Life for Aggravated Sexual Assault

Just a few hours after convicting Karl Allen Dreyer of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, a Montgomery County Jury recommended a life sentence in the case. Judge Kathleen Hamilton of the 359th District Court followed the jury’s recommendation and imposed the sentence Friday evening.

The defendant was convicted of violently raping his wife’s 15 year old step-sister. Prosecutors Rob Freyer and Echo Coleman walked the victim through the violent sexual assault, and also presented evidence of another sexual assault perpetrated by this same defendant years earlier. Sheriff’s deputies from the Montgomery county jail testified that the defendant was a behavioral problem in the county jail, and an officer from El Paso testified that after fleeing from this jurisdiction after the most recent sexual assault, the defendant had to be tased when he became violent with officers attempting to arrest him.

The defendant had a prior prison trip for Burglary of a Habitation and several misdemeanor arrests. The jury sentenced the defendant to life after 30 minutes of deliberation.

“I am once again glad that a victim was able to leave a Montgomery County courtroom knowing that the citizens of this county heard their cry for help,” said District Attorney Brett Ligon. “This is prosecutor Rob Freyer’s fifth life sentence from a jury since coming to work for this office in January. He continues to distinguish himself as a champion for those that unfortunately fall victim to these sadistic predators. Juries continue to call for maximum sentences in these cases,- and our office will continue to oblige them.”

Three Men Plead Guilty to Video Taping Sexual Assault

Marcus Lewis,25, Dewayne Towner, 26, and Daniel Webster, 21, had pleaded guilty to sexual assault, and exploiting a child by video taping the encounter. The three are now off to prison after offering apologies to those they hurt.

By pleaded no contest to the charges against them, the three defendants who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old Green Bay girl and video taped the crime avoided a trial. It was that tape that landed Marcus Lewis, Dewayne Towner and Daniel Webster behind bars. Police found the video in the home where the three men were staying. At the time, officers were following up on an unrelated sexual assault complaint, of a 19-year old girl.

Dana Johnson: I obviously think they know what they did was wrong they were videotaping a 16-year-old and the were assaulting her.

Charges were reduced in court to third degree sexual assault based on what was on the tape...But the judge in case calls the video "frightening."

"I'm not losing sight of the fact that you taping it in of itself is a terrible victimization of this person," said Judge Marc Hammer.

And it's the video taping of the assault--a charge of child exploitation-- that gave the three the most time behind bars. Six years for Webster, seven years each for Lewis and Towner. Each received three years prison time on the sexual assault charge. The sentences will be served concurrently.

"We had three goals," explained assistant district attorney Dana Johnson. He says they wanted to insure they got felony convictions, prison sentences, and not to have to have the victim return to the state to testify at a trial.

The court confirmed the 16-year-old victim, as well as the 19-year-old victim for which Lewis was also sentenced for third degree sexual assault, have moved out of state and offered no victim statements. The only impact testimony came from Webster's mother.

"I'm here to support my son," Joyce Webster told the court.

Outside of court she agreed the sentence was fair.

"It's a shocker but he has to pay for his consequences," said Joyce Webster.

She says her son has expressed regret for his actions, and the other defendants offered apologies in court.

"I hurt a lot of people, made some wrong choices and I apologize for what I did," said Lewis.

Each defendant has been behind bars for nearly a year, since their arrest, that time will be subtracted from their prison sentence. Once they get out of prison each will be under extended supervision by the courts.

Rev. Gerald Dunne Accused of Child Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia says a priest accused of child sexual abuse denies the accusation but has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Church officials say parishioners at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Philadelphia were informed of the allegation against the Rev. Gerald Dunne this past weekend, following the filing of a lawsuit last week in Delaware.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit accuses Dunne, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, of sexually abusing him some 30 years ago at Salesianium High School in Wilmington.

Three Cleveland Men Charged with Having Child Porn

Three Cleveland men are charged with using the Internet to collect pornographic videos and photographs of children.

Christopher Jones, 34, was indicted on 100 counts. Prosecutors say he was sharing pornography from January through May 7, when officers with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched his East Side home. "Jones was downloading child pornography when officers arrived," prosecutor's spokesman Ryan Miday said.

David Lingenfelter, 21, was indicted on 41 counts. Prosecutors say he was sharing child pornography from his parents' house in Warrensville Heights from August through November 2008. March 6, the task force searched his house and confiscated his computer.

Sherief Ishac-Sorial, 27, of Cleveland, was indicted on 29 counts. Prosecutors say he was sharing child pornography from his West Side house from May through September 2008. His computer was confiscated Dec. 12.

The ICAC task force was created in 1999 by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason and includes members of local, state and federal law enforcement. It expanded statewide in 2003 to include 280 law enforcement agencies, at least one from each of Ohio's 88 counties.

Youth Minister William Wilson Arrested on Lewd Act with Child

A former church youth minister has been arrested and charged with sex crimes involving three people.

Multiple media outlets reported that 30-year-old William Ralph Wilson of Gaston was arrested Thursday on four charges.

Lexington County sheriff's deputies charged Wilson with two counts of committing a lewd act on a minor and two counts of exposing minors to sexually explicit materials.

Wilson is the former youth minister at Chapel of Redemption Church in West Columbia.

Three victims made complaints about Wilson to the department this week.

Wilson was being held at the Lexington County jail. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

John Bossert Jr & Others Arrested in Internet Sting

A Hereford Township man was one of three people apprehended in an Internet child predator sting operated by the Pennsylvania Attorney general's office.

John T. Bossert Jr., 37, of the 900 block of Gravel Pike, was arrested Friday and accused of having sexually explicit online conversations with an investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Bossert was arrested at home by state police and charged with unlawful contact with a minor and related offenses. He was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail after arraignment before District Judge Michael G. Hartman. He later posted bail.

Also arrested in the sting were Randy L. Hart, 40, of Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, and Manpreet S. Nibber, 49, Burtonsville, Md.
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http://www.gantdaily.com/news/43/ARTICLE/54898/2009-06-20.html

Raymond 'Foxy' Gagnon Charged with Possession of Child Porn

Authorities spent Saturday at the home of a former Plattsburgh teacher arrested on allegations that he knowingly possessed child pornography.

Raymond "Foxy" Gagnon, who, for years, was an eighth-grade teacher at Stafford Middle School, was arraigned in federal court in Plattsburgh on Saturday. More recently, he wrote a column for the Press Republican and did sports commentary for a public access station.

According to an affidavit, Gagnon told investigators there were 25 pornographic videos and 100 pictures on his computer.

Police said Gagnon downloaded the images from a European Web site and visited the site every few days.

Gagnon told investigators he did it for "personal sexual gratification."

Jimmy Montano Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Child

A Clovis man is in jail following a reported child pornography raid at his home.

25-year-old Jimmy Montano is in the Curry County jail charged with sexual exploitation of children and manufacturing child pornography.

Investigators say they found child porn and materials to manufacture child porn on Montano's computer on Friday.

They say more charges are to come for Montano as they get more information from his hard drive.

He is being held on a $30 thousand cash bond.

He also was on probation for a first degree child abuse conviction.
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http://www.cnjonline.com/news/arrested-34164-sexual-exploitation.html

David Earls Receives Only 1-year Sentence for Raping 4-year-old

A woman who says she was raped by her father — the man now at the center of a controversy for the rape of a child in Pittsburg County — took her case to a national audience Friday with the hope he gets a longer prison sentence.

Through a satellite hookup in Tulsa on Friday morning, Denise Earls, 43, told CNN how she came to be raped by her father, David Harold Earls, when she was 8.

She was joined during the interview by state Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, who has expressed outrage at the one-year prison sentence David Earls received last month in McAlester for the rape of a 4-year-old girl.

Ritze has also appeared on national TV in recent days, most notably the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News, to vent his anger at the sentence and also to call for state authorities to investigate the case.

Ritze and state Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, have called for proceedings to oust Pittsburg County District Judge Thomas Bartheld, who accepted the plea bargain Earls, 64, received on May 13.

Adding intensity to the outrcy on Earls is that he will serve just three more months in a county jail and won't go to prison.

The one-year plea bargain took into account the time he was booked and held in jail since Sept. 24, 2008.

As a result, Earls is tentatively scheduled to be released Sept. 24, Pittsburg County jail administrator Missi Eldridge said.

Earls pleaded no contest last month to charges of first-degree rape and forcible sodomy.

As part of a plea bargain, he was sentenced to a year of incarceration, and 19 years of a 20-year sentence were suspended.

The plea bargain and the 4-year-old's pretrial court appearance in front of Earls triggered national and international outcries, even threats to District Attorney J.B. Miller, whose assistants agreed to the sentence.

On Friday afternoon, a bomb threat was called in to Bartheld's office, leading sheriff's deputies to evacuate the Pittsburg County Courthouse. No explosive device was found.

Prosecutors and the child's family had feared that the 4-year-old would freeze up during the planned closed-circuit testimony, Miller said. That, along with Earls' age and his terminal cancer, led to the plea bargain before the trial began.

Ritze said Denise Earls, who is not related to the 4-year-old girl, appeared on CNN on Friday with the hope that somehow her father would be punished with a longer prison sentence, "and also to make sure that what happened to her doesn't happen to someone else."

In a recent interview with The Oklahoman, Denise Earls called her father a "monster" who got a year sentence, while "I got a life sentence."

She has established a life with her husband, daughter and grandchildren and long ago separated from her father's family.

She knew nothing of her father's criminal case until her estranged mother called recently.

She said her father's sentence angers her.

"They have computers; they have all kinds of ways to determine that he has family members," she said. "You would have thought they would have tried to contact me to see if anything happened to me."

Denise Earls said the inappropriate touching began while she was living with her mother and grandmother in Blackwell. Her father was divorced from her mother when she was 1, she said, and she seldom heard from him.

In 1974 her father spent one night in the washroom behind the garage where she was living. She said that's where he raped her.

Her father told her that if she told anyone, she would no longer be allowed to live with her grandmother, she said, so she kept quiet.

"I was too afraid," she said. "My grandmother was my rock. My grandmother was my savior. She's the reason I'm a good person today."

Denise Earls said she confronted her father in 1995, after she'd been married many years.

"He said, 'I was drunk. I'm sorry. I don't remember,' " she said. "I said, 'I have vivid memories.' "

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has already weighed in on the allegations made by Denise Earls.

"My investigators have talked to this newly identified victim," he said.

"We're attempting to determine whether, in all likelihood, the statute of limitations has run on those offenses.

"But it would be additional information that if there were a trial of this person, Earls, that information may be admissible to show the propensity to commit this kind of crime."