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Future Of Subway Pitchman’s Foundation Unclear After Raid

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Suspended Subway pitchman Jared Fogle’s foundation, which encourages children to avoid the same obesity he experienced in college, faces an uncertain future following a raid at his home two months after the group’s then-executive director was arrested on child pornography charges.

A phone number to the Jared Foundation Inc. was out of service and its website was down Wednesday, a day after federal and state authorities seized electronics and other items from Fogle’s suburban Indianapolis home. Fogle hasn’t been charged with any crime and his attorney, Ron Elberger, said the 37-year-old is cooperating with authorities “in their investigation of unspecified charges.”

Following the raid, Subway suspended its relationship with Fogle, who shed 245 pounds more than 15 years ago as an Indiana University college student, in part by regularly eating the restaurant’s sandwiches.

The secretary of state’s office in Indiana, where the group was registered in 2004 as a nonprofit corporation, said that it had administratively dissolved the foundation in February 2012. Valerie Kroeger, a spokesman for the state agency, said that action was taken after the foundation failed to pay annual $5 reporting fees the two previous years despite being notified multiple times by the office.

“That means they’re no longer registered with the state to do business,” she said.

Despite the state’s action, the foundation retains its tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service, allowing it to receive tax-deductible contributions. According to the foundation’s annual filing with the IRS in 2013, the most recent one available, the group’s revenues were about $127,000 and expenses topped $148,000.

That form also showed that its “program service expenses” were about $100,000 and that $40,000 in salary was paid that year to Russell Taylor, who had been the foundation’s executive director from May 2008 until shortly after his May arrest on child pornography charges.

Fogle severed ties with the 43-year-old Taylor after federal investigators said they discovered a cache of sexually explicit photos and videos Taylor allegedly produced by secretly filming minor children at his home.

Taylor had overseen the operations of the foundation, through which Fogle has visited schools across the nation urging children to adopt healthy eating and exercise habits. The foundation’s website, before it was disabled, had described the group’s mission as “to eliminate childhood obesity by raising awareness and developing programs that educate and inspire kids to live healthier, happier lives.”

Tim Horty, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Indianapolis, said prosecutors “are moving forward” with the case against Taylor, who is currently in federal custody. He and the FBI declined to comment on the raid Tuesday at Fogle’s home.

Taylor’s attorney, Brad Banks, said he did not know how Taylor and Fogle had met but said the “primary basis of their relationship” was Taylor’s former employment with the Jared Foundation.

In 2011, that foundation endorsed the Coordinated Approach To Child Health, or CATCH, a group developed by a consortium of universities that calls itself a leader in childhood obesity prevention and education. But CATCH spokeswoman Shermayne Crawford said the group and the Jared Foundation had “mutually agreed to suspend the relationship” following Taylor’s arrest.

A criminal complaint filed against Taylor states that a woman identified only as “Jane Doe” contacted Indiana State Police last September, telling an officer that Taylor had offered “to send her images or videos of young girls through text messages.” The complaint states that Taylor “made this offer during a series of text messages that included discussions of sexual matters, including bestiality and sadistic or masochistic abuse.”

Fogle’s work in schools, where he has told kids about his weight struggles and how they can avoid obesity helped with the larger mission of drawing attention to the factors behind childhood obesity, said Victor Coleman, director of the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition in Seattle.

Coleman said he hopes the raid at Fogle’s home doesn’t “taint” his childhood obesity work, but he said that could change if he were to eventually face criminal charges.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


Texas Parole Officer, Boyfriend Face Child Porn Charge

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VICTORIA (AP) – A Texas prison system parole officer and her boyfriend have been charged with production of child pornography based on her cellphone.

Prosecutors say Saralyn Ann Proschko of Victoria was being held Tuesday on a federal complaint, pending a detention hearing. Officials say David Ray McGee of Wallis was in state custody on related charges.

Victoria police responded to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice parole office in Victoria on allegations of possession of child pornography. A complaint says officers met with Proschko and discovered a video on her cellphone of a girl engaged in a sexual act.

TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark says the agency cooperated in the investigation, Proschko was relieved of her duties and faces firing.

Investigators didn’t immediately provide information on attorneys to speak for Proschko and McGee.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Subway Pitchman To Admit To Child Pornography Charges

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INDIANAPOLIS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – An Indiana television station is reporting that Subway pitchman Jared Fogle is expected to plead guilty to child-pornography charges.

The report on Fox 59 comes six weeks after authorities seized electronics and other items from Fogle’s home in Zionsville, an affluent Indianapolis suburb.

The 37-year-old Fogle became a Subway pitchman more than 15 years ago after shedding more than 200 pounds as a college student, in part by eating the chain’s sandwiches.

Subway suspended its relationship with Fogle after the raid.

Tuesday Subway tweeted, “We no longer have a relationship with Jared and have no further comment.”

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Convicted Sex Offender Pleads Guilty To Possessing Child Porn

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Erick Fernando Duarte, 58, of Garland, appeared in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

Duarte, who was in federal custody since his arrest in May 2015, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 10 years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release.

According to documents filed in the case, in April 2014, a detective with the Garland Police Department received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that child pornography was uploaded to an AOL account by a specific AOL email user. Based on this, subscriber information, and information reported on his updated sex offender registry, Duarte was identified as the user.

A search warrant was secured and executed for Duarte’s home and cell phone. A review of his cell phone and other media revealed that he had more than 1200 images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent children involved in sex acts, on his cell phone. Duarte admitted that some of the images depicted sadistic and/or violent content.

Duarte was convicted in the 265th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas, in October 1995, for the felony assault of Sexual Assault of a Child.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The FBI and the Garland Police Department are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Camille Sparks is in charge of the prosecution.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Rockwall Man Admits Producing, Transporting Child Porn

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Christian C. Winchel, 49, of Rockwall pleaded guilty Friday to multiple child pornography offenses involving prepubescent child pornography.

Specifically, Winchel pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography; one count of transporting and shipping child pornography; and one count of possession of prepubescent child pornography.

He faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine. Winchel has been in custody since his arrest on a related federal criminal complaint in early February 2015.

Winchell admitted he has downloaded child pornography since approximately 1994.

He thought he would be able to trade child pornography with others if he produced his own material. He had access to an 18-month-old child, and took sexually explicit photos of himself with the child. He also admitted using a spy cam to capture minor girls using the bathroom when they were in his home and a nanny cam to capture minor girls in various stages of undress in his home.

Winchell moved to Rockwall from Indiana in 2013, transporting the videos he had recorded of minor girls from Indiana to Texas. He admitted that when children visited for sleepovers at his home in Rockwall, he filmed himself engaging in sexually explicit activity while in proximity of the minor children who were asleep.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home in February 2015 and seized several media items. The investigation revealed that as of August 20, 2015, there were 2700 images and videos of child pornography contained on the media examined.

Through this forensic analysis, law enforcement has determined that some of the images and a video, involving an eight-year-old minor victim, were produced just over one year ago, in late July 2014. Law enforcement has found evidence that Winchel produced child pornography and images and videos of five minor victims.

Anyone who knows of someone who may have been victimized in this case is asked to contact the FBI at 972-559-5000.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 

Stephen F. Austin Professor Charged With Having Child Porn

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NACOGDOCHES (AP) – Investigators say an economics professor at Stephen F. Austin University has been charged with having child pornography on a college computer.

Nacogdoches County jail records show 52-year-old Michael Dean Stroup was being held Wednesday on a charge of possession of child pornography.

Bond was set at $15,000 for Stroup, who’s also interim chairman of the Department of Economics and Finance at the school in Nacogdoches.

Stroup was arrested Tuesday on campus. A school statement says the investigation began when images were discovered on a server used by the business college. University officials say there’s no evidence that the illegal images involved SFA students.

Online jail records do not list an attorney for Stroup, who’s suspended with pay amid the investigation and ordered to stay away from campus.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Man Gets 20 Years In Prison After Posing As 6th Grade Student

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — An 18-year-old man accused of posing as a 12-year-old to enroll at a Hurst elementary school has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ricardo Lugo was sentenced to prison Monday for indecency with a child, and received 10 years of probation for possession with intent to promote child pornography. Authorities say Lugo was enrolled in the 6th grade last year at Hurst Hills Elementary School, and his enrollment was supported by false documents presented to the school.

Twenty-nine-year-old Randy Ray Wesson, who Hurst police say posed as Lugo’s father, pleaded guilty earlier to federal child pornography charges. Authorities say they discovered thousands of child pornography images in Wesson’s home during a raid.

He is scheduled to be sentenced December 3.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Texas Man Sentenced To 24 Years In Prison For Child Porn Video Scam

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LUBBOCK (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A man who pretended to recruit models and lured a girl to a Texas shopping mall to shoot a sex video has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

In June, Amadeo Torres pleaded guilty to production of child pornography. The Lubbock man was sentenced Friday.

Torres, 24, was arrested last year at the South Plains Mall in Lubbock.

Investigators say Torres chatted online with a 14-year-old girl and pretended to be scouting for models. Authorities say he met the girl at the mall, took her into a family restroom, locked the door, got her to disrobe and then shot the video and molested her.

Torres was arrested a day later at the shopping center while allegedly trying to meet another girl.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)


Fort Worth Boys Group Founder Arrested On Child Sex Charges

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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Police arrested the founder and chairman of a Fort Worth nonprofit boys organization on child porn and solicitation charges.

Fort Worth Police say 33-year-old Paul Jamison Jr., of the nonprofit Developing Boys to Men, has been charged with online solicitation of a minor after a 15-year-old boy affiliated with the nonprofit showed police text messages sent to him from Jamison.

The victim said Jamison, who was the boy’s mentor in the organization, asked him to send a sexually explicit picture on Tuesday, according to the arrest warrant.

The boy didn’t send a picture, but instead went to the police.

Jamison is being held on a $10,000 bond. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.

The Fort Worth Police Department Crimes Against Children Unit said Jamison may have solicited child pornography from additional minors, and they ask those with information to contact the department at 817-332-5036. The investigation is ongoing.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Arlington Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Possessing Child Pornography

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DALLAS  (CBSDFW.COM) — An Arlington man, Steven Lass, 33, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in federal prison following his guilty plea in April 2015 to one count of possession of child pornography.

According to documents filed in the case, in August 2014, an officer with the Midlothian Police Department conducted a traffic stop in Midlothian on a vehicle driven by Steven Lass. The officer noticed that Lass’s front passenger seat was missing. Several tools and electronic devices were found where the seat would be have been located; Lass indicated that the tools and devices were his.

Lass consented to a search of his vehicle. Two iPods that were found were searched, and several images of child pornography were located. A subsequent forensic analysis of the seized material by FBI special agents revealed more than 650 images of child pornography on Lass’s iPods and 1559 images of child pornography on a thumb drive.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, click here.

For more information about internet safety education, click here and click on the tab “resources.”

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

North Texas Teacher Arrested On Child Porn Charges

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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – A 31-year-old Plano teacher has been arrested on child exploitation charges U.S. Attorney John M. Bales said Monday.

Keith Oser, a 5th grade teacher at Legacy Charter School in Plano, was arrested Friday, Nov. 13, and went before a judge Monday.

Oser has been charged in a federal complaint with distribution of child pornography. Oser will return to court Nov. 24 for detention and preliminary hearings.

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, click here.

Anyone with additional information on this case is asked to contact Victim-Witness Coordinator Judy Daigle at the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 1-800-804-3547.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Jared Fogle Gets More Than 15 Years In Prison

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Jared Fogle emerged from obscurity to become the unlikely face of one of the nation’s biggest restaurant chains, earning a small fortune by touting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle that included Subway sandwiches.

But his wholesome public image was only that, and on Thursday he was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for trading in child pornography and paying for sex with underage girls.

Fogle, 38, sought leniency, apologizing to his victims and telling the court in a tearful statement that he was raised with good values by a good family, but succumbed to self-centered “deception and lies.” He said he wished he had realized long ago that he had a problem.

“I had become dependent on alcohol, pornography and prostitutes,” he told the judge. “… I want to redeem my life. I want to become a good, decent person. I want to rebuild my life.”

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt wasn’t swayed, though, and gave him a harsher sentence than the 12½ years that prosecutors had sought. She also ordered him to submit to a lifetime of post-prison supervision and fined him $175,000.

“What a gift, to have such a professional windfall fall in your lap,” Pratt said, referring to the lucrative deal Subway gave Fogle after he lost more than 200 pounds in college, partly by eating its sandwiches. But she said Fogle blew the chance he’d been given by living a double life and pointed out that the crimes he committed weren’t victimless.

“The level of perversion and lawlessness exhibited by Mr. Fogle is extreme,” said Pratt. She recommended Fogle receive sex offender treatment in prison and said she’ll recommend he serve his time at a federal lockup in Littleton, Colorado, that specializes in such treatment.

As he was being led from the courtroom in handcuffs, the father of two blew kisses to crying relatives.

Fogle pleaded guilty to one count each of traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography, per a deal he struck with prosecutors in August, a month after authorities raided his suburban Indianapolis home.

Fogle’s lawyers and relatives left court without speaking to the media, and his attorney Ron Elberger did not respond to a question about whether Fogle will appeal his sentence.

In arguing for a five-year prison term, Fogle’s attorney Jeremy Margolis told Pratt that Fogle is ready for prison and has “lost his wife, he’s lost the children he loved and he’s not going to see them for years and years and years.”

“No one wants to be Jared Fogle. He is one of the most despised individuals in America,” Margolis told the judge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota, who handled Fogle’s prosecution, said he was pleased with the sentence and said Pratt made “a thoughtful explanation of why she thought the right answer was 188 months.”

DeBrota said that while some speculated that Fogle’s wealth and celebrity would help him get a shorter sentence, the judge rejected that suggestion, as well as arguments by Fogle’s attorneys that his notoriety and wealth would place him under added stress in prison.

“She flat out rejected the argument that wealth helped him any way here,” he said.

The hearing offered new details about Fogle’s transgressions and his life in recent months.

John Bradford, a professor of forensic psychiatry at the University of Ottawa in Canada, testified by phone that he analyzed Fogle in August and concluded he suffers from hypersexuality, mild pedophilia, and alcohol abuse and dependency.

He said Fogle told him that he had “a fairly extensive history” of using prostitutes for sex and paid a minimum of about $12,000 a year for sex. He also said Fogle’s main interest was young females but that he also had some interest in adolescent males, and that Fogle told him he masturbated to fantasies about prepubescent girls but that there was no evidence he “actually engaged in sex” with such children.

Bradford said Fogle apparently had a compulsive eating disorder before he lost all of the weight that led to him becoming the face of Subway, and that his hypersexuality seemed to develop shortly after he shed the extra pounds.

Rick May, a psychologist from Aurora, Colorado, told the court he treated Fogle at his clinic over a four-week period and that Fogle had responded to those treatments. But he said Fogle needs much more therapy and he would be willing to continue to treat Fogle if he is sent to the prison in Littleton.

Under federal rules, Fogle must serve 85 percent of his sentence, which means he must serve more than 13 years in prison. Fogle can appeal his sentence, but not his conviction under his guilty plea.

In his plea deal, Fogle admitted that he had sex at New York City hotels with two girls under age 18 — one of whom was 16 at the time — and paid them for that sex. He also acknowledged receiving child pornography produced by Russell Taylor, the former executive director of The Jared Foundation, a nonprofit Fogle started to raise awareness and money to fight childhood obesity.

Authorities said Taylor secretly filmed 12 minors as they were nude, changing clothes, or engaged in other activities using hidden cameras in his Indianapolis-area residences to produce child pornography. Taylor has agreed to plead guilty to child exploitation and child pornography charges and faces a Dec. 10 plea hearing on those charges.

Fogle agreed to pay a total of $1.4 million to his 14 victims, with each getting $100,000. Before Fogle entered his guilty pleas Thursday, one of his attorneys told the judge that Fogle had paid 12 of the 14 victims and turned over the checks for the last two victims before the proceedings began.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Former Jared Fogle Associate To Be Sentenced For Child Porn

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The former director of a foundation started by ex-Subway pitchman Jared Fogle is set to learn his sentence for producing child pornography that played a role in Fogle’s criminal case.

A federal judge was scheduled Thursday to sentence Russell Taylor, who agreed in September to plead guilty to child exploitation and child porn charges alleging that he used hidden cameras to produce pornography of 12 children.

Prosecutors are seeking a 35-year sentence for Taylor. His attorneys are seeking a sentence ranging from 15 years to nearly 23 years. He faces a minimum 15-year sentence under federal law.

Taylor was executive director of the Jared Foundation, a nonprofit that Fogle started to raise awareness and money to fight childhood obesity, from 2009 until May, when prosecutors filed child porn charges against Taylor.

Authorities said Taylor, 44, secretly filmed 12 children who were nude, changing clothes or engaged in other activities. They said he used cameras hidden in his Indianapolis-area homes to produce child pornography.

Indiana authorities who raided Fogle’s suburban Indianapolis home in July have said their probe began in September 2014 based on a tip to Indiana State Police regarding Taylor’s sexual interest in children.

Federal prosecutors said Fogle, a 38-year-old father of two, received photos or videos from Taylor of eight of Taylor’s 12 child victims and encouraged him to produce more child pornography.

Fogle was sentenced last month to more than 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to trading in child pornography and having sex with two underage prostitutes.

Taylor’s attorneys said in a court filing that Taylor is deeply remorseful for his actions, that he has a history of mental illness and that he was sexually abused as child. They also said that Fogle was psychologically abusive to Taylor and exercised financial control over Taylor after hiring him to run his foundation.

 

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Former Police Officer Gets 20 Years In Texas Child Porn Case

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FORT WORTH (AP) — A former police officer must serve 20 years in federal prison in a Texas child pornography case.

Erik Miltonhall, a former law enforcement officer in Missouri, was sentenced in Fort Worth.

Prosecutors on Tuesday announced the penalty for the 40-year-old Miltonhall, who in August pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornography.

Investigators say Miltonhall in 2014 stayed with a friend in Arlington and used that person’s computer to transmit child pornography.

Records show Miltonhall was hired as a police officer in Ellington, Missouri, in October 2008 and resigned in April 2009. Ellington is a town of about 1,000, located 120 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Miltonhall was sentenced December 10.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison On Child Porn Conviction

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DALLAS  (CBSDFW.COM) – Michael Brendan O’Connor, 36, of Dallas, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, following his guilty plea to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

O’Connor has been in custody since his arrest in May 2014, according to a news release.

According to documents filed in the case, the investigation began in May 2014 when an officer with the Nebraska State Patrol, working online in an undercover capacity and posing as a 31-year-old female whose interests included incest and molesting her young children, was contacted by an individual, later identified as O’Connor, who expressed similar interests. O’Connor, in very sexually explicit communications, indicated, among other things, that he was “attracted to girls 3 to 10 and 8 is the magic age for me physically.” In a later communication, O’Connor detailed an incident where he molested a young child while he was on break at a restaurant where he worked. On May 13, 2014, O’Connor sent the undercover officer a zip file containing several images of child pornography.

On May 29, 2014, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a federal search warrant at O’Connor’s residence. More than 950 images of child pornography, some depicting infants and toddlers, were located on O’Connor’s homebuilt computer. He admitted downloading, possessing and transporting images of child pornography.

O’Connor was convicted of sexual assault of a child in Collin County in 2010 and possession of child pornography in Dallas County in 2009.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 


‘Glee’ Actor Mark Salling Accused Of Child Porn Possession

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say former “Glee” star Mark Salling has been arrested in Los Angeles for investigation of possessing child pornography.

Police Officer Tony Im says the 33-year-old actor, who is from North Texas, was taken into custody Tuesday after a warrant was served at his home in the Sunland neighborhood.

Im says Salling had been investigated by the LAPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, but he did not elaborate.

Representatives for Salling did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Im didn’t know if Salling has a lawyer.

Salling is best known for playing Noah “Puck” Puckerman on TV’s “Glee.” The musical comedy-drama aired on Fox from 2009 through March of this year.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Pentagon: Hundreds Of Military Kids Sexually Abused Each Year

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Cpl. Aaron C. Masa became fast friends with a fellow Marine during field training in North Carolina. But behind his buddy’s back, Masa was sexually abusing his friend’s 3-year-old stepdaughter. He also took sexually explicit photos of the girl and the Marine’s infant daughter.

A military judge convicted Masa last year of sexual abuse of a child and production of child pornography, according to court records and other documents detailing the case. Under the terms of a pretrial agreement, he pleaded guilty and received 30 years in prison.

In total, incidents involving sexual assault in which the children of service members are victims occur hundreds of times each year, data the Defense Department provided exclusively to The Associated Press show. The abuse is committed most often by male enlisted troops, according to the data, followed by family members.

The figures offer greater insight into the sexual abuse of children committed by service members, a problem of uncertain scale due to a lack of transparency into the military’s legal proceedings. With more than 1 million military dependents, the number of cases appears statistically small. But for a profession that prides itself on honor and discipline, any episodes of abuse cast a pall.

Those numbers fall well-short of offering a full picture.

The ages of the offenders and victims, the locations of the incidents and the branch of service that received the report of sexual abuse were omitted. The Defense Department said in a statement that “information that could unintentionally uniquely identify victims was withheld from release to eliminate possible ‘re-victimization’ of the innocent.”

It’s also unclear how many of the incidents resulted in legal action. The cases represent substantiated occurrences of child sexual abuse reported to the Defense Department’s Family Advocacy Program, which does not track judicial proceedings, the department said.

An AP investigation published in November found more inmates are in military prisons for child sex crimes than for any other offense. But the military’s opaque justice system keeps the public from knowing the full extent of their crimes or how much time they spend behind bars.

Responding to AP’s findings, three Democratic senators have urged Defense Secretary Ash Carter to lift what they called the military justice system’s “cloak of secrecy” and make records from sex-crimes trials readily accessible.

The senators also raised another concern. Child sex-assault cases are not included in the Defense Department’s annual report to Congress on sexual assaults, which focuses primarily on adult-on-adult incidents, they said. The senators — Barbara Boxer of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii — told Carter in a Dec. 8 letter they are concerned the department may be underestimating how many sexual assaults are occurring in the military.

There were at least 1,584 substantiated cases of military dependents being sexually abused between fiscal years 2010 and 2014, according to the data. Enlisted service members sexually abused children in 840 cases. Family members of the victims accounted for the second largest category with 332 cases.

Most of the enlisted offenders were males whose ranks ranged between E-4 and E-6. In the Marine Corps and Army, for example, those troops are corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants. Officers were involved in 49 of the cases. The victims were overwhelmingly female.

Kathy Robertson, manager of the Family Advocacy Program, said in an emailed response to questions that the incident rates reflect the U.S. military’s demographics. Most of the cases involve the E-4 and E-6 ranks because they are the largest number of active-duty personnel and the largest number of parents in the military, she said.

Duplications in the data indicate that as many as 160 additional cases of sexual abuse could have occurred during the 2010 to 2014 period, involving a child who was victimized multiple times or a repeat abuser. The figures also account only for cases involving military dependents, which are the only child victims the department tracks.

In Masa’s case, military authorities first became aware of the alleged abuse in June 2014 after the 3-year-old told a neighbor that she did not like Masa because he touched her in certain places and “made it hurt,” according to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s investigation obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

NCIS blacked out all the names in the report, including Masa’s. The AP identified him by the dates and events in the document that matched records from Masa’s court-martial.

Masa, 24, admitted during questioning to at least five instances of sexually assaulting her, the NCIS report said. Investigators found nude photos of both girls on his cellphone and later discovered a pair of girl’s underwear during a search of his mother’s home in Ohio.

The report depicted Masa as a loner with a troubled past. People interviewed by the Navy investigators described him as “oddball” who was picked on in high school in Marietta, Ohio. He graduated near the bottom of his class with a cumulative 1.782 GPA, according to his official transcript.

Masa watched a lot of sexually explicit Japanese animation known as hentai, the NCIS report said, and he had an intense interest in “furry porn,” a genre of pornography in which animal characters with human arms and legs engage in sex.

In 2008, Masa was arrested after threatening to bring a gun to school and shoot three other students, according to the NCIS report, which included details of the incident. Police didn’t find a gun on him, but he had a knife. He pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 2010, a month after graduating from high school. The arrest wasn’t serious enough to bar Masa from enlisting. A Marine Corps spokesman said he was found qualified after a thorough screening process that involved physical, mental and moral evaluations.

Stationed at Camp Lejeune, a sprawling installation on the North Carolina coast, Masa started a friendship with the Marine sergeant and his family in 2013, according to the 286-page NCIS report. They fished together and chopped wood for the sergeant’s fire pit. Masa loaned the sergeant money to help the family through a financially difficult period and spent more and more time at their home, the report said. He babysat the girls and volunteered to give the older daughter a bath, the documents said.

Amid the good will, suspicions surfaced. The girls’ mother suspected as early as March 2014 that the 3-year-old daughter was being molested because she complained of pain “down there,” according to portions of medical records from a hospital near Camp Lejeune that are included in the NCIS report. The girl was sleeping by the door and having nightmares, the mother said.

Yet at the hospital, the girl was in high spirits, smiling, laughing and jumping on the bed, according to the report. She was diagnosed as having a urinary tract infection and antibiotics were prescribed. “Mom advised to follow up with law enforcement if she has concern about possible molestation,” the report said, quoting the medical records.

But an investigation wouldn’t be launched until a few months later, after the girl talked to the neighbor. While being questioned by investigators, Masa drew a diagram of the floor plan of the sergeant’s home, using X’s and O’s to show where the abuse occurred.

Masa is serving his sentence at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Lewisville ISD High School Teacher Arrested

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CARROLLTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Lewisville ISD Hebron High School teacher Larry Eugene Hardin, 61, was arrested on December 23 on federal charges of  enticing a minor and transporting child pornography.

Lewisville ISD says the geometry teacher, Larry Hardin is currently on administrative leave.

Hardin started working for the school district in August 2010.

Lewisville ISD says it does not have any reason to believe any students were involved.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Texan Advertised Online As Babysitter, Guilty Of Child Porn

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CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) — A South Texas man who advertised online as a babysitter faces up to 50 years in prison for molesting a girl in his care and recording the abuse.

Daniel Benson Billman of Aransas Pass pleaded guilty Monday to production of child pornography.

Federal prosecutors in Corpus Christi say the 42-year-old Billman last summer was linked to the possible sexual assault of a child.

Prosecutors say Billman posted an ad on Craig’s List as a babysitter for hire. A woman answered the ad and placed her daughter in the care of Billman and his girlfriend.

Billman, in his plea deal, acknowledged molesting the 7-year-old girl in a hotel and in a vehicle.

Billman, who was arrested in October, remains in custody pending sentencing.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Texas Thrift Store Worker Produced Child Porn From Dressing Room Video

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CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) — A Texas thrift store worker must serve 60 years in prison for producing child pornography by recording customers changing clothes in dressing rooms.

Daniel H. Aleman II was sentenced Thursday by a federal judge in Corpus Christi.

Aleman, who worked at a Goodwill Industries store in nearby Portland, was convicted last year of two counts of production of child pornography.

Prosecutors say Aleman in 2014 attached a small video recorder to a shopping cart. Aleman positioned the cart under the bottom gap of the dressing room door. Investigators say one of the videos showed a woman dressing a 4-year-old girl.

A January 2015 search of Aleman’s home led to confiscation of several electronic devices, which included more than 20 videos of females in dressing rooms. He was arrested last April.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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