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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
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    3

    Default Child Pornography Investigation Involving a Senior Citizen

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida (or federal)

    A little over a week ago, a very close friend of mine shot himself to death. That morning, FBI agents had come to his house with a warrant to seize his home computer and his work laptop, which was still at his office. He told the agents that he needed to take his daughter to school and he would meet them at his place of employment. He did take his daughter to school, but he then drove to a gun range, fired a few rounds at paper targets, and turned the gun on himself. I learned from his employer the next day that the FBI agents indicated that they were looking for pornographic images involving minors.

    Obviously I am trying to reconcile this with the man I knew. I'm not in denial. My gut knows that in all likelihood he probably intentionally downloaded CP onto his computer. My heart wants to believe this was a one-or-two time stupid mistake he made. At 70 years of age, he was not technologically sophisticated. He couldn't even change the ring tone on his cell phone. I feel certain he had no clue what person to person file sharing is all about. I know that even one image would be unacceptable, but it just seems more bearable for me to believe that this was the result of a freak moment of stupidity and horniness.

    My friends all tell me to face the facts that the FBI would not have wasted their time investigating someone who downloaded a few images a few times. They only go after the habitual, long term offenders with thousands of images.

    Is that true? If the FBI is investigating someone in that manner, is there little hope that they were anything other than a major player? I'll never know the official answer now that he's dead, but my heart can't let it go.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    8,006

    Default Re: How Sick Was My Friend

    He may not have been a major player, just a frequent player. The FBI isn't likely to be raiding him over 1 or 2 oopsies or curiosity.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: How Sick Was My Friend

    Quote Quoting Moshi
    View Post
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida (or federal)

    A little over a week ago, a very close friend of mine shot himself to death. That morning, FBI agents had come to his house with a warrant to seize his home computer and his work laptop, which was still at his office. He told the agents that he needed to take his daughter to school and he would meet them at his place of employment. He did take his daughter to school, but he then drove to a gun range, fired a few rounds at paper targets, and turned the gun on himself. I learned from his employer the next day that the FBI agents indicated that they were looking for pornographic images involving minors.

    Obviously I am trying to reconcile this with the man I knew. I'm not in denial. My gut knows that in all likelihood he probably intentionally downloaded CP onto his computer. My heart wants to believe this was a one-or-two time stupid mistake he made. At 70 years of age, he was not technologically sophisticated. He couldn't even change the ring tone on his cell phone. I feel certain he had no clue what person to person file sharing is all about. I know that even one image would be unacceptable, but it just seems more bearable for me to believe that this was the result of a freak moment of stupidity and horniness.

    My friends all tell me to face the facts that the FBI would not have wasted their time investigating someone who downloaded a few images a few times. They only go after the habitual, long term offenders with thousands of images.

    Is that true? If the FBI is investigating someone in that manner, is there little hope that they were anything other than a major player? I'll never know the official answer now that he's dead, but my heart can't let it go.
    I think that perhaps your concerns should be focused on his daughter. I understand that you are suffering, but perhaps his child is suffering more than you.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: How Sick Was My Friend

    He was 70 years old. The best part of his life was behind him. He would have spent all the financial security he had accumulated defending himself, leaving nothing for his family. The payoff would have been he spend the last few years of his life incarcerated and if he survived that shunned. What he did was not the act of a coward. It was the act of a pragmatist.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    441

    Default Re: Child Pornography Investigation Involving a Senior Citize

    Quote Quoting Moshi
    View Post
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida (or federal)

    A little over a week ago, a very close friend of mine shot himself to death. That morning, FBI agents had come to his house with a warrant to seize his home computer and his work laptop, which was still at his office. He told the agents that he needed to take his daughter to school and he would meet them at his place of employment. He did take his daughter to school, but he then drove to a gun range, fired a few rounds at paper targets, and turned the gun on himself. I learned from his employer the next day that the FBI agents indicated that they were looking for pornographic images involving minors.

    Obviously I am trying to reconcile this with the man I knew. I'm not in denial. My gut knows that in all likelihood he probably intentionally downloaded CP onto his computer. My heart wants to believe this was a one-or-two time stupid mistake he made. At 70 years of age, he was not technologically sophisticated. He couldn't even change the ring tone on his cell phone. I feel certain he had no clue what person to person file sharing is all about. I know that even one image would be unacceptable, but it just seems more bearable for me to believe that this was the result of a freak moment of stupidity and horniness.

    My friends all tell me to face the facts that the FBI would not have wasted their time investigating someone who downloaded a few images a few times. They only go after the habitual, long term offenders with thousands of images.

    Is that true? If the FBI is investigating someone in that manner, is there little hope that they were anything other than a major player? I'll never know the official answer now that he's dead, but my heart can't let it go.
    I've never investigated child porn myself, but I know someone quite well who spent time working on an Internet Crimes Against Children task force, and who has arrested people for child porn and other crimes.

    The people who say that the FBI isn't raiding someone over one or two images are absolutely correct. In fact, the US Attorneys are quite adamant that they don't want the uncertainty of a trial nor the bad public relations of indicting a grandfather for a couple pictures that his defense team will claim were the results of simply clicking on a link here and there that he didn't mean to click on. They only spend their time on people with fairly extensive "collections."

    Also, the claim that some make about being arrested for "having a picture of a 17 year old girl without a shirt or bra on" are likewise complete and utter BS. In fact, my friend and co-worker that I mentioned above has actually told me that he runs into countless individuals downloading images that are probably illegal but that they don't even waste their time on. The people that they arrest had pictures that anyone glancing at would immediately know where CHILDREN no where near the age of 18. Basically, if there is even a question about whether the person pictured could possibly be 18 they probably aren't touching it. And all of the people whom they arrest possess many images that are so disgusting that it makes my stomach turn thinking about it and I can't even say what they depict.

    The guy put on an act about not knowing about technology. In reality, he was a dirt bag child predator. The world is better off with one less of those in it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Officially across the country from where I've been all my life
    Posts
    4,494

    Default Re: Child Pornography Investigation Involving a Senior Citize

    If the FBI is coming to your house, they already have sufficient evidence to put you in jail. Your friend was guilty as sin and while you might not want to believe it, he was viewing CP and got caught. The only thing I want to change about someone's sentence is that if he were to survive incarceration, he'd be shunned.

    He wouldn't survive incarceration. They put you away for a LONG TIME for possession of CP. The stress of imprisonment puts years on younger people. The stress would kill him or he'd die of natural causes 20 years later.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Child Pornography Investigation Involving a Senior Citize

    Quote Quoting DeputyDog
    View Post
    I've never investigated child porn myself, but I know someone quite well who spent time working on an Internet Crimes Against Children task force, and who has arrested people for child porn and other crimes.

    The people who say that the FBI isn't raiding someone over one or two images are absolutely correct. In fact, the US Attorneys are quite adamant that they don't want the uncertainty of a trial nor the bad public relations of indicting a grandfather for a couple pictures that his defense team will claim were the results of simply clicking on a link here and there that he didn't mean to click on. They only spend their time on people with fairly extensive "collections."

    Also, the claim that some make about being arrested for "having a picture of a 17 year old girl without a shirt or bra on" are likewise complete and utter BS. In fact, my friend and co-worker that I mentioned above has actually told me that he runs into countless individuals downloading images that are probably illegal but that they don't even waste their time on. The people that they arrest had pictures that anyone glancing at would immediately know where CHILDREN no where near the age of 18. Basically, if there is even a question about whether the person pictured could possibly be 18 they probably aren't touching it. And all of the people whom they arrest possess many images that are so disgusting that it makes my stomach turn thinking about it and I can't even say what they depict.

    The guy put on an act about not knowing about technology. In reality, he was a dirt bag child predator. The world is better off with one less of those in it.

    Yeah, I guess deep down I knew that was probably the answer. Thanks for bring honest about it. I had also wondered if maybe they were mainly pics of teens...still awful but perhaps slightly more bearable for me. But what you say makes sense, that their main concern is the images of those who are obviously children.

    It's hard for me to stomach that I was soooo close to this person and yet obviously didn't know him as deeply as I thought I did.

    It just sucks...but I thank everyone's cold hard honesty.

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