April 11, 2011
Mexican journalist, author and activist Lydia Cacho is taking on social media giant Facebook, saying that the company allows sexual predators to operate freely on their site. She recently told media that many images of child pornography can be found on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Cacho explained that when Facebook finds a page containing images of child pornography it closes the account. The problem with that is that colsing the account deletes all the digital evidence that would aid law enforcement to prosecute the offender, and very often the person simply opens another account later that day.
Cacho is asking that before closing any accounts with child pornography, Facebook’s leaders should contact law enforecment so that investigators can get the IP address and track down the identity of sexual predators. “They have a lot of power, and they should also use it help children,” Cacho told El Mensajero.
Cacho isn’t alone, however, in taking on child pornography in social meadia. A bipartisan bill to be introduce later this month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) intends to tackle the subject. The bill would require Internet service providers to keep computer records and identification information of users for two years, so that federal law enforcement agencies can use the information in their child-pornography investigations.
Digital Forensic Specialist Elise Feetham (pictured left) with the New England State Police Information Network, was the lucky winner of a WebCase license by Vere Software on March 24, 2011 at the SHIFT Regional Training at the Marriott Courtyard in Marlborough, MA.
WebCase® was designed by experienced law enforcement professionals to help you collect Internet information in a usable, evidentiary, reportable manner. The software is an easy to learn, easy to use solution that changes the way investigators locate, collect, manage, and present online evidence.
The Massachusetts Regional SHIFT Training, team taught by Lt. Kristian Carlson, Commander of the Burlington, Vermont Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC) and Dr. B. Anne Balboni, Coordinator/Director of the Rhode Island Critical Incident Stress Management Team, offered professionals who are exposed to child sexual abuse and torture images and who may interact often with child sex offenders (e.g., law enforcement officers, forensic analysts, prosecutors, etc.), the opportunity to learn about the causes and symptoms of the negative effects that may occur as a result of their duties and ways to mitigate them.
Mental health professionals learned about the challenges faced by professionals exposed to child pornography and other operations involving child sex offenders.
For a list of upcoming SHIFT Trainings, please visit www.shiftwellness.org.
April 8, 2011
Registered sex offender Eric Frasher, 48, of Santee, CA, is back behind bars Wednesday for allegedly distributing child pornography. In 2000, Frasher was convicted of possession of images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to authorities, in February an undercover FBI agent used a file sharing program to select and download numerous child sexual abuse images directly from Frasher’s computer. Frasher’s Santee residence was searched and he admitted to FBI agents that he used a file sharing program to receive and distribute child pornography. According to the FBI, a forensic analysis of items taken from his home that day revealed hundreds of images depicting child sexual abuse and exploitation.
April 7, 2011
Late Monday evening, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB109 – the public safety realignment bill - which authorizes the transfer of tens of thousands of convicted felons from state prisons to local control. The measure was part of Brown’s effort to balance the state budget by shifting the burden of housing and supervising these criminals from the state to county level.
One problem: the governor planned on tax increases and extensions to fund the measure, however Republicans have blocked all efforts for Brown to put those taxes before voters in June.
The govenor had a choice to either sign the bill or veto it, otherwise it would have automatically gone into law that evening. So Brown attempted to soften the blow by stating that AB109 will not take effect until the state has figured out how to pay counties for the extra responsibilities.
Sheriffs had initally reluctantly showed support for the bill, only if the measure would be adequately funded. Now they are worried that without a long term, dedicated funding stream, counties will ultimately end up bearing the extra burden without the finiancial resources to pay for them. And that could lead to already-overcrowded jails releasing criminals, said Nick Warner, a lobbyist for the California State Sheriffs Association.
“Without clear constitutional protections and inadequate funding, this is a public safety nightmare,” he said.
Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, also issued harsh words in her statement:
“This flawed measure amounts to a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for thousands of felons who should be in state prison,” she said. “The governor has signed this bill in the name of cost-savings, but it could end up costing lives by letting dangerous criminals out onto our streets without proper supervision. This law will only shift the state’s responsibilities onto the backs of local government without resources to keep our communities safe. I urge my fellow lawmakers to work with Assembly Republicans on follow up legislation that will not endanger our neighborhoods.”
March 29, 2011
“I haven’t been back in Tallahassee since before I was elected to Congress. But I think this is so unbelievably important,” Wasserman Schultz says.
According to Wasserman Schultz, Florida’s Republican governor has put forth a budget that eliminates more than half the cyber-crime investigators who go after child pornornography producers and online predators, slashes funding and moves the program out of the state attorney general’s office.
“There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of predators who are lurking online using children in sexual acts to bring pleasure to themselves and others,” she explains.
“We do have to make cuts. We have to make smart cuts,” Wasserman Schultz says. “We don’t have to treat children like they’re expendable and we don’t have to put children’s lives at risk, which is exactly what’s going to happen here if this cut is allowed to stand.”
It’s unusual for a member of Congress to directly challenge a sitting govenor – so why now? Wasserman Schultz championed a 2008 federal law to coordinate the efforts of state programs. And this year in the House, she got an amendment to the GOP’s stripped-down budget for at least $30 million in funding for Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.
“But that doesn’t preserve the investigators in Florida,” Wasserman Scultz says. If Gov. Scott’s plan succeeds, Florida risks not being able to use those those valuable resources coming down from the federal level.
March 18, 2011
Special Agent/Forensic Examiner Matt Sauer (pictured left) for Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa ICAC, was the lucky winner of a Camstasia Studio license by TechSmith on March 10, 2011 at the SHIFT Regional Training at the FAA Enrichment in Ankeny, Iowa.
The Camstasia Studio software allows you to record anything on your PC screen along with webcam and audio. The product is used by educational and goverment organizations, including the NYPD, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the US Postal Service, and the FBI.
The Iowa Regional SHIFT Training, team taught by Special Agent Scotty Hughes, Commander of the Wyoming ICAC, and Dr. Lawrence Thompson, Jr., Director of Therapy and Psychological Services for The Children’s Assessment Center in Houston, TX, offered professionals who are exposed to child sexual abuse and torture images and who may interact often with child sex offenders (e.g., law enforcement officers, forensic analysts, prosecutors, etc.), the opportunity to learn about the causes and symptoms of the negative effects that may occur as a result of their duties and ways to mitigate them.
Mental health professionals learned about the challenges faced by professionals exposed to child pornography and other operations involving child sex offenders.
For a list of upcoming SHIFT Trainings, please visit www.shiftwellness.org.
March 17, 2011
An international child pornography ring spanning 30 countries centered in The Netherlands was broken up this week by law enforcement, resulting in 184 arrests and 200 children saved.
Europol Director Rob Wainwright says authorities have made arrests in Britian, the US, Australia and spain, and identified an additional 486 suspects and more arrests are likely.
The break in the case came when Dutch authorities arrested the creator of the home-based Internet forum Boylover.net, which did not directly distribute child pornography, rather facilitated the exchange of images and videos between its over 70,000 members from 109 countries.
Tuesday, Amir I, the forum’s creator, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in Brazil. He could face up to three and a half years in prison.
March 11, 2011
Shane Kiser, a 29-year old Delaware man, has been charged with attempting to entice a minor and receipt and possession of child pornography.
Kiser met a man in an Internet chat room for pedophiles, who said he was a divorced father with a 9-year old son who was available for sex with adult males. Kiser arranged to meet the the father with the intention of having sex with the 9-year-old son.
The “father” was actually an undercover state trooper posing in the chat room; the 9-year old son was fictitious.
During their conversations, Kiser identified himself as a “true pedophile” who had an interest in having sex with a boy, a baby or toddler, prosecutors said.
They agreed to meet at a hotel so that Kiser could have sex with the officer’s fake son and Kiser said he would bring a pacifier for the boy to use during the assault, according to arrest records.
He was arrested by state police on attempted rape and solicitation charges in the hotel parking lot.
Law enforcement raided Kiser’s home and seized computer equipment with more than 1,000 files containing images of toddlers and infants engaged in sex acts with adult males.
At the time of his arrest, Kiser was employed part-time as a nurse at Beebe Hospital.
If convicted, Kiser faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life on the child enticement charge, a mandatory minimum of 5-20 years in jail on the receipt of child pornography charge and a maximum of 10 years on the possession of child pornography charge.
March 9, 2011
A CA man, Brian Robert Garrett, 26, pled guilty on Monday in federal court to using the Internet to coerce a minor female to engage in criminal sexual activity. Garrett posed as a teenage girl on social networking sites to meet real teenage girls in order to befiend them in his pursuit of child sexual exploitation.
Garrett was able to gain the trust of a young Wisconsin girl and introduced her to a male “cousin” of his fictitious persona, said Department of Justice spokesperson Lauren Horwood.
According to the Department of Justice, Garrett was able to gain the trust of a young Wisconsin girl, introduced her to a fictitious male cousin, and eventually the chats became sexual in nature and eventually he convinced her to send him sexually explicit images of herself.
Garrett purchased gifts for the girl, including a new digital camera; threatened to post her images on the Internet if she did not continue to supply sexually explicit images of herself; and harrassed her vial phone and email, despite pleas by the victim’s mother to stop.
He also offered to fly the girl out to California at his own expense.
Garrett had other complaints filed against him in California by posing as a 15-year old male while trying to approach two young girls on social networking sites.
A search warrant executed at Garrett’s residence revealed that he had used a peer-to-peer software program to search for images of child pornography. Several images of child pornography were found on his computer.
He is facing 10 years to life in prison.
Jonathon Martin, 28, of Vincennes, IN, allegedly posted an advertisement on Craigslist wanting young girls for sex. During the investigation, the Indiana Internet Crimes Agaisnt Children (ICAC) Task Force uncovered that Martin was involved in numerous online child sexual exploitation activities.
During the execution of a search warrant this week, authorities discovered more than 20,000 child pornographic images and videos on several computers that Martin had been allegedly sharing via email clients and peer to peer file sharing sites.
Martin was arrested and taken to the Knox County Jail where he is currently being held on bond.
Mexican journalist, author and activist Lydia Cacho is taking on social media giant Facebook, saying that the company allows sexual predators to operate freely on their site. She recently told media that many images of child pornography can be found on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
