Eric Roper - Repeat Sex Offender - The Benefits of GPS Monitoring

A registered sexual predator was arrested Friday after he invited a 12-year-old girl into his car and exposed himself to her, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Eric Roper, 28, drove near the girl on Long Street in Lakeland as she was walking to school and asked if she wanted a ride, officials said. The girl refused and threatened to call police, and Roper then stepped from the car and exposed himself, police said.

The girl ran to a nearby house, where the residents called for help. PCSO detectives said they confirmed Roper's location during the incident through a GPS device he is required to wear.

Roper is listed as a transient with no known address. He was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and lewd exhibition.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Robert Alan Girard - Repeat Sex Offender - Appeals court upholds 200 year sentence

A state appeals court on Friday upheld the 200-year sentence of a Terra Linda man convicted of molesting four girls at his home.

Robert Alan Girard was convicted of four counts of molestation during a trial in 2007. He was 64 when convicted.

Girard, a registered sex offender, molested the girls from 2003 to 2006 when they visited his home for sleepovers with his daughter. The girls were 6 to 8 years old.

Judge Kelly Simmons sentenced Girard to the maximum four consecutive 50-year terms because of the crimes and his prior record. Girard was convicted in 1980 of performing a lewd act on a 9-year-old child, unlawful sexual intercourse and drug possession.

Girard appealed Simmons' sentence, claiming cruel and unusual punishment, flaws in the trial and prosecutorial misconduct.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld Simmons' sentence.

"A lengthy sentence that will ensure (Girard) is barred from the community for the rest of his life and that will protect that community from future predatory conduct is fully justified," wrote Justice Barbara Jones. "The 200-year sentence imposed does not shock the conscience or offend fundamental notions of human dignity."

Civil lawsuits stemming from the Girard case are still pending in Marin Superior Court. In addition to seeking damages from Girard, the litigation claims Dixie School District officials and former San Rafael police Chief John Rohrbacher failed to notify parents that Girard

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Juan Lauderdale - Repeat Sex Offender - Violent Predator

A convicted sex offender accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month in La Marque was arrested at a relative’s home in Somerville, police said.

Juan Lauderdale, 32, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is also charged with burglary of habitation, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and failure to register as a sex offender. All of the incidents occurred in La Marque, police said.

He is being held in the Galveston County jail on $370,000 bail.

Police said he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on Dec. 29 at an apartment in the 1330 block of Montgomery.

The girl had gone to the apartment to have Lauderdale tattoo her name on her right arm near her shoulder, said La Marque Police Detective Geoff Price.

After he tattooed the girl, Lauderdale made sexual advances toward her, but she told him that he was too old for her, Price said.

Then he pulled out knife, beat her and sexually assaulted her, police said.

“He beat her pretty bad,” Price added.

Lauderdale drove the girl to her apartment complex in Texas City after the attack and dropped her off, authorities say. She told her neighbor that she had been assaulted and the neighbor called police.

Police found him after they stopped one his relatives in Somerville driving a truck that Lauderdale had reportedly stolen. Lauderdale was arrested at his sister’s home in the Burleson County city.

Price said Lauderdale served time in state prison for a 1996 conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was registered as a sex offender because of that conviction, Price added, but had recently moved without notifying authorities.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Ancle Price Reed Jr. - Repeat Sex Offender - 6 years not long enough

The mother of a registered Eugene sex offender’s latest victim spoke out in court Tuesday, saying she hoped he would be removed from the streets for good. She got a guarantee of at least six years.

In December, her 9-year-old was asleep when Ancle Price Reed Jr., 25, crawled through the girl’s window in west Eugene and touched her while she slept. Police used dogs to track Reed to his apartment, where a six-hour search uncovered him in the attic, hiding under insulation.

The attack marks the fourth time in six years that Reed has been convicted of attempting to assault girls in the Eugene area.

In 2002, he was charged with sex abuse, sodomy and statutory rape for incidents involving girls ages 9, 11, 13 and 15. The rape charges stemmed from a relationship with his then 15-year-old girlfriend, with whose family he lived. The other incidents involved attempted abuse of her younger relatives.

Reading a prepared statement at Tuesday’s sentencing, the victim’s mother fought back tears as she described what life has been like for her child since the attack.

“My daughter sleeps in my bed more often and is even afraid to go to the bathroom alone, even at school,” she said. “She’ll run in from playing outside and think someone is watching her. She has lost trust in people.”

Rush Hoag, the public defender assigned to the case, said Reed had a dark past.

The child of an alcoholic mother, he went into foster care at age 8 and cycled through more than 15 homes in eight years.

“It’s pretty clear from the study of all of this that (he) was exposed to at least one abuser and probably more,” Hoag said.

Reed’s first wife left him while he was serving his first prison sentence. He had been married for only a few weeks to his second wife when the December abuse occurred.

Reed has a 2-month-old baby, and a 5-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter from his previous marriage.

On the night of the assault, Reed was at a party next door to the victim’s home and was drinking heavily, Hoag said.

“There are aspects of the night he doesn’t recall,” Hoag said. “This thing has all the earmarks of someone who is operating under the influence of alcohol, quite possibly at a level of alcohol blackout.”

The victim’s mother said Reed had touched her daughter before. The girl asked her mother not to say anything and said she thought it may have been a mistake because he was drinking.

“This little girl didn’t need to be visited by your problems and your past,” Lane County deputy district attorney Erik Hasselman told Reed in front of a packed courtroom.

Reed, slumped in a chair, declined to give a statement.

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Mustafa Kasubhai sentenced Reed to 45 months for the burglary, to be served concurrently with his 75-month sentence for sex abuse, a Measure 11 crime that carries a minimum mandatory sentence.

Reed is not eligible for early release and will spend 10 years in post-prison supervision when he gets out.

As a condition of his release, Kasubhai recommended that Reed not be allowed contact with his victim, her family or any other minors.

“In the state’s opinion, this is the candidate that Measure 11 sought to address,” said Hasselman, who prosecuted Reed’s first sex abuse case in 2002.

“Six years may seem like an eternity to him right now, but he’s still going to be a relatively young man when he gets out, still capable of making the same types of decisions,” Hasselman said. “If Mr. Reed so much as steps out of line on his post-prison supervision, I’m going to be there on behalf of the community to make sure that he is not … unpunished for any other crimes he commits against children.”

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Ronald Lewis Kercher - Offers Education to Sex Offenders - What happens when you refuse to follow the rules

A Billings man wanted for allegedly violating the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act has been captured by the U.S. Marshals Service's Montana Violent Offender Task Force.

Ronald Lewis Kercher, 29, is required to register as a sex offender after a November 30, 1998 conviction for felony sexual intercourse without consent in Jefferson County.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act requires that a person must register as a sexual offender if convicted in a state court, and has traveled in interstate commerce to reside in a new state. The offender must register his or her new address within three business days.

Kercher was arrested at his residence located at 137 Jack Street in Billings, Monday morning. He is alleged to have failed to register as a sex offender after traveling in interstate commerce.

U.S. Marshal, Dwight Mackay, says a number of events led up to Kercher's capture. He was arrested on March 14, 2008 and failed to show in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest. On September 4, 2008 he was captured in Georgia and served some time. Once out, he failed to register as a sex offender and the current warrant was issued.

Kercher stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby during his initial appearance. He is under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending further court proceedings.

The 29 year old faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

Jack McClellan - Filthy GirlChat Pedophile Can't come within 10 yards of any child in California

"The voyeur and stalking nature of McClellan's activities and his attendance at functions where children congregate, in conjunction with his use of photographs of small children, is offensive, frightening, menacing and not protected by McClellan's free speech or assembly rights."

A self-proclaimed pedophile who promised to return to Santa Clarita Valley to watch young girls in public areas has lost his appeal of a statewide ban keeping him away from children.

Last week, the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles upheld a 2007 Superior Court injunction that prohibits 46-year-old Jack McClellan from being within 10 yards of any child in California.

Local lawyer Anthony D. Zinnanti filed the injunction in August 2007 after reading reports in The Signal that McClellan planned to return to this valley with the intent of watching little girls at family events in public settings.

Zinnanti won his injunction, and on Aug. 3, 2007, Superior Court Judge Melvin D. Sandvig widened the scope of Zinnanti's injunction to include all of California.

He handed down a sweeping statewide order prohibiting McClellan from being within 10 yards of any child in California and ordering him not to loiter where children congregate.

The appellate panel of three judges - Justices Richard Dennis Aldrich, J. Anthony Klein and Patti Kitching - concluded that the injunction still stands. They also ordered McClellan to pay Zinnanti's court costs estimated to be between $500 and $1,000.

McClellan's lawyer compared the pedophile's ban to civil rights violations.

"This is about fear, hatred and public paranoia, the same forces that power racism and sexism," Richard Mario Procida said Wednesday, adding it was difficult for him "personally" to tackle such a "very very difficult" case.

"I think the message of this decision is ‘Don't express your feelings' and ‘Don't express your secret desires,'" said the Whittier attorney. "Don't express yourself because you could be prosecuted for it. Don't make a public confession because it could be interpreted as a threat."

Zinnanti said he was delighted at the decision.

"Everybody from Santa Clarita that I run into tells me, ‘Thanks for looking out for the kids.'" he said. "I couldn't not do what I did."

On Labor Day 2007, McClellan moved to Portland, Ore., after he was detained a couple of times by law enforcement officers upholding Sandvig's ruling.

McClellan vowed to appeal the injunction from out of state on grounds that his First Amendment rights were violated, specifically his right to express a preference for pre-pubescent girls.

McClellan ran a Web site that promoted "girl love," including advice to pedophiles as to where young girls congregate and the degree to which they were supervised.

Appellate court judges concluded: "The trial court's orders did not violate McClellan's fundamental rights."

McClellan argued two points in a bid to appeal his statewide restraining order.

According to court documents obtained by The Signal, McClellan argued the injunction was "improper," because "they were based on the content of his speech that promotes sexual relations with children as being healthy."

He also argued the injunction placed restraints on his publishing activities.

The judges in their ruling wrote: "We are not persuaded by either argument."

They explained their decision as: "McClellan is not prohibited from espousing his controversial views.

Rather, he is prohibited from his continuing course of conduct to harass, attack, assault, stalk and keep under surveillance minor children, as to do so places the children in danger, and is threatening to them.

"The voyeur and stalking nature of McClellan's activities and his attendance at functions where children congregate, in conjunction with his use of photographs of small children, is offensive, frightening, menacing and not protected by McClellan's free speech or assembly rights."

As a result of the court decision, McClellan is still barred from being within 30 feet of any child in California.

Marcus Golston - Repeat Sex Offender - Failed to Register then raped an 8 year old

A Leland man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Brunswick County Superior Court to raping an 8-year-old-girl and failing to register as a sex offender.

Marcus Golston, who is in his late 30s, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and was sentenced to nine and a half to 12 years in prison, Assistant District Attorney Meredith Everhart said.

Golston also pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender.

He will now be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to GPS satellite monitoring for the rest of his life, Everhart said.

The incident with the child occurred in Leland from January to March in 2007.

This was not Golston's first sex offense.

He was dishonorably discharged from the military for sex offense with a girl under the age of 16 in 1996, Everhart said.

He served seven years in a military prison for that charge before moving to New Hanover County then to Brunswick County, where he failed to register as a sex offender.

"He was never on our grid," Everhart said, noting Golston lived in the area for four or five years without anyone knowing he needed to be registered as a sex offender.

Everhart said the registration allows law enforcement to monitor sex offenders.

"We can make sure that they are not in a position to be around young children," she said.

Part of the requirement for registered sex offender is that they are not allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 in their home.

The incident with the 8-year-old occurred at Golston's residence.

"Maybe it could have prevented her from being there in the first place," Everhart said

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Steven Allen Othberg - Repeat Sex Offender - Sister needs Denial Therapy

Police paperwork reveals a 5-year-old boy accused his babysitter of making him take off his clothes so the suspect could touch him while he took pictures.

The boy's mother called police on January 14. Steven Allen Othberg, 23, was arrested the following day.

"I think he's innocent," said Tiffany Othberg, the suspect's sister.

Police paperwork paints a different picture of Othberg stating his criminal history includes an arrest in Ohio on November 7, 2007 for rape, gross sexual imposition and kidnapping a 5-year-old girl.

"He didn't do it," said his sister.

Othberg's sister said he told her he fell asleep and the girl injured herself.

Then, he pleaded to a lesser charge of endangering a child before moving to Arizona in September.

The Scottsdale victim's mother told ABC15 she never would have allowed Othberg to babysit her three children had she known any of this.

"I don't think he would do that," said Othberg's sister. "He's raised my daughter. She's five now, she's his world, he would never hurt her."

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Kenneth Jurls - Repeat Sex Offender - Busted along with 8 others

Louisiana state police troopers have had a busy week. In a state wide sweep they arrested nine people from all over the state most in connection with child pornography as part of a operation they are calling 'Child Watch".

Of those arrested is 21 year old Jerrod Williams. He is accused of having child porn on his computer. The only man from Shreveport, he was taken into custody from his dorm room at Centenary College.

Rick Delahaya a spokesperson for Centenary College says he is no longer a student here. "We are cooperating with authorities and we did cooperate with authorities when they served the search warrant other than that I really can't make any other comments because it really is an ongoing investigation."

Police arrested 23 year old Brandon Josey of Bossier City at his home also accused of having child porn on his computer.

State police arrested Kenneth Jurls while he attended a sex offender meeting. The Bossier man has been arrested for child porn once and is registered as a child sex offender. One neighbor who wouldn't go on camera says she's known the boy for years and for years she says he's had problems. "He use to hang around my son, and now that this has happened. This isn't good for the neighborhood."

Robert Miller was also arrested from northwest Louisiana and so far he has only been charged with possession of cocaine. He is out on a $15,500 bond.

Below is a complete list of everyone arrested:

Shreveport Area

Jerrod Williams, 21 of Shreveport is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Kenneth Jurls, 34 of Bossier City is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Brandon Josey, 23 of Bossier City is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Robert W. Miller, 51 of Bossier City is charged with possession of Cocaine.

Monroe Area

Kasey A. Solomon, 23 of Simsboro is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Ronald Green II, 23 of Monroe is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

James Grant Jr, 18 of West Monroe is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Alexandria Area

Frank A. Griffin, 47 of Leesville is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Jedd A. Prevatt, 18 of Leesville is charged with possession of Child Pornography.

Police say operation "Child Watch" will continue as long as there are predators that continue to prey on children.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

........Sarah Tofte

Harold N. Rimblert III - Repeat Sex Offender - Peeping Harold

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies have arrested a registered sex offender they found in a women's restroom at the County Job Center.

Harold N. Rimblert III, 25, faces a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism for walking into a lavatory in the center, 1111 S. Edwin C. Moses Blvd., about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, and looking at women from underneath the stalls, Sheriff Phil Plummer said.

"No one was harmed and we were able to apprehend him pretty quickly since we have a deputy on duty there for security," Plummer said. "We're going to take a close look at Mr. Rimblert because he obviously has a problem."

It is at least the sixth time in five years Rimblert, 145 Waverly Ave., has been arrested on voyeurism charges, according to court records. He was sentenced in May to 60 days in jail for being in a women's restroom at Sinclair Community College, Plummer said.

It was that incident that prompted Judge Carl S. Henderson to order Rimblert to register as a sex offender.

He has never served more than 60 days for any of the convictions and often has been given credit for time served, according to court records. He is free on a $99 bond.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Don Fritzsche - Repeat Sex Offender - Agrees he's a scumbag

Convicted sex offender Don Fritzsche pleaded guilty to one felony count of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16 in District Court Tuesday and agreed to undergo a psychosexual evaluation prior to sentencing.

Fritzsche was on District Court Judge Fred Gibler’s docket for a pretrial conference in preparation for his trail, set for Jan. 27, for two counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16.

Attorney David Lohman, representing Fritzsche, informed Gibler during the pretrial conference that a plea agreement had been reached.

The plea agreement stipulated that Fritzsche would plead guilty to one count of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16 while a second count of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16 would be dismissed. The agreement also outlined a psychosexual evaluation Fritzsche has consented to undergo, with a report — including a professional analysis of the test results — to be issued to the court and used by Gibler in Fritzsche’s sentencing.

The maximum penalty for lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16, Gibler said, is a sentence of up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Gibler set Fritzsche’s sentencing for April 13 at 9 a.m.

Fritzsche, then 33, was arrested on a federal warrant in Bonners Ferry last July in connection to the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl. Lt. Corey Thompson with the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office, who was involved in an investigation of Fritzsche, reported that the man left the St. Joe River area near Avery and fled the state when he learned a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Fritzsche, reportedly on the run from Texas and Oregon to Montana and Washington, was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.” He was later arrested in Bonners Ferry.

According to Thompson, Fritzsche’s record includes prior imprisonment for sexually abusing a minor.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Edward Sutherly - Repeat Sex Offender - Showing off for the girls

A Dayton man twice convicted of indecent exposure was indicted Tuesday for two new charges of indecent exposure for allegedly exposing himself and masturbating in front of two girls in the Family Dollar parking lot on West Beverly Street in Staunton in the afternoon of Aug. 22.

Edward Sutherly, 38, allegedly lifted himself out of his car seat while parked next to two girls, ages, 18 and 10, police said.

Sutherly appears on the Virginia State Police sex offender registry for two indecent exposure convictions, both of which indicate multiple prior convictions as well.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

........Sarah Tofte

Gary Lee Greer - Crazed Repeat Offender

The Boone Police Department charged a Creston sex offender with three counts of felony first-degree burglary following several bizarre break-ins last Friday.

Gary Lee Greer, 36, formerly of Watauga County, was charged in connection with break-ins at three downtown Boone apartments.

The apartments, one on Water Street and two on Howard Street, were occupied at the time of the break-ins.

Two female and one male victims told police they awoke in their bedrooms to find Greer standing over them. He was also charged with a misdemeanor assault on a female in connection to the incidents.

A search of the North Carolina sex offender registry revealed Greer is a registered sex offender based on a conviction of second degree rape in Johnson County in 2005.

He was released from the Department of Corrections in June 2008.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Benjamin Watta - Repeat Sex Offender - Sentenced to Death

A man convicted of raping and murdering a 70-year-old Seal Beach woman has been sentenced to death.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Tuesday upheld a jury's death penalty recommendation for 63-year-old Benjamin Watta.

He was convicted in June of attacking Simone Sharpe as she fed her neighbor's cats 28 years ago.

Prosecutors argued that DNA evidence matched Watta to the crime. They decided to seek the death penalty because DNA linked Watta to an unsolved rape in Florida.

Watta was a registered sex offender and has prior convictions for attempted rape, burglary, use of a firearm and attempted murder of a police officer.

Defense attorneys have said Watta was abandoned when he was a baby and sexually abused as a child.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

........Sarah Tofte

Willie Wragg - Repeat Sex Offender - Guilty

A Monroe County jury deliberated for two hours this afternoon before finding a level-three sex offender guilty of sexual abuse.

Willie Wragg was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse in an attack on a nine-year-old girl in June of 2008.

He is facing a minimum of five years and maximum of seven years when he is sentenced on February 4. He is being held without bail.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Benjamin S. Rzadca - Repeat Sex Offender - BoyChat Pedophile

A convicted sex offender was sentenced to almost 22 years in federal prison today for secretly filming boys in a Florissant recreation center.

Benjamin S. Rzadca, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis in October to two felony counts of child sexual exploitation and admitted filming two different boys, one on Dec. 26, 2007 and one on Jan. 7, 2008.

Rzadca was arrested that January on suspicion that he exposed himself to children and adults at the James Eagan Center.

"Mr. Rzadca, the offenses you committed are just beyond the pale,” U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw said, before sentencing Rzadca to 262 months in prison and 30 years of supervised release after his release.

The man who triggered Rzadca's arrest was the father of one of the boys to whom Rzadca exposed himself. The father told Shaw Monday morning that he no longer takes his family to the center and is paranoid about his son being alone in public.

He also read defiant online postings in which someone identifying himself as Rzadca suggests ways for pedophiles to target children, writes that opposition to pedophilia is a form of discrimination and says, “I'm proud to be who I am.”

Rzadca's public defender said that Rzadca denied authorship of those online writings.

Rzadca still faces state felony charges of sexual misconduct involving a child under 14 and invasion of the privacy of multiple individuals.

His arrest prompted the Florissant City Council to bar registered sex offenders from being within 500 feet of city parks or recreation centers.

In 2003, Rzadca was convicted in military court of transportation and possession of child pornography and committing an indecent act in the presence of a child and sentenced to more than five years in prison.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Edward Bakken - Repeat Sex Offender - Guilty

A convicted sex offender has pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually assault a 22-year-old woman who was attacked while riding a bike in Flagstaff.

Edward Bakken, 49, is expected to serve 23 years in prison after agreeing to a plea deal this week.

Flagstaff police say the victim told officers she was riding her bicycle near a park when she passed a man and said “good morning” to him. That’s when the man knocked her off the bicycle.

The woman landed in cactus but hit and scratched Bakken as he punched her and stabbed her in the neck with a short, blunt stick.

Bakken eventually gave up and took off on the woman’s bicycle.

She ran to get help, and officers arrested Bakken a couple miles from the scene.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Jim Freeman - Repeat Sex Offender - Guilty

A federal court jury in Florida convicted seven people of participating in a global child pornography trafficking enterprise, according to the Department of Justice.

Jurors convicted the seven Wednesday of multiple counts of child exploitation, pornography and obstruction of justice.

Members of the organization used Internet news groups to swap and share "illegal images and videos depicting prepubescent children, including toddlers, engaged in various sexual and sadistic acts," prosecutors said.

An indictment filed in the case detailed interactions between group members as they swapped and commented on images.

"My thanks to you and all the others that together make this the greatest group of pedos to ever gather in one place," Freeman wrote in response to one posting, according to the indictment. And a posting from Castleman, cited in the indictment, read, "Thanks to all for the wonderful material that has been posted."

An Australian constable who infiltrated the group in August 2006 was among 50 witnesses testifying at trial. He told the jury that the group traded more than 400,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse before being dismantled by law enforcement, according to the Justice Department statement.

Each defendant faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison, fines and the possibility of supervised release for the rest of their lives, authorities said. The seven will be sentenced April 14.

During the six-day trial, evidence showed the seven participated in what prosecutors called a "well-organized criminal enterprise whose purpose was to proliferate child sex abuse images to its membership during a two-year period."

"This was a wide-scale, high-volume, international trafficking enterprise that used sophisticated computer encryption technology and file-sharing techniques," Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general, said in the statement.

The seven defendants were James Freeman of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; Gary Lakey of Anderson, Indiana; Marvin Lambert of Indianapolis, Indiana; Neville McGarity of Medina, Texas; Warren Mumpower of Spokane, Washington; Daniel Castleman of Lubbock, Texas; and Ronald White of Burlington, North Carolina, according to the Department of Justice.

The charges included engaging in a child exploitation enterprise; conspiracy to advertise, transport, ship, receive and possess child pornography; advertising child pornography, transporting child pornography, receiving child pornography and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said.

Seven additional American defendants previously entered guilty pleas, prosecutors said.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

James Cleary - Repeat Sex Offender - Sick Twist

A twice-convicted sex offender from Yorktown has admitted to fondling another child, this time an 11-year-old White Plains boy who was friends with the offender's niece.

James Cleary, 46, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of first-degree sex abuse for inappropriately touching the boy on Aug. 16, the Westchester County District Attorney's office said today.


Prosecutors said the victim's mother had dropped him off at a Mobil gas station in Valhalla, where Cleary worked with his brother, Mark Cleary.

The boy was a friend of James Cleary's 12-year-old niece and the victim's mother knew the brothers for more than 10 years.

The boy, Cleary, his brother and other family members went out on James Cleary's boat that evening, then went to Cleary's home, where the boy fell asleep while watching a movie, the District Attorney's office said. During that night, the boy woke up as he was being sexually assaulted by James Cleary, prosecutors said.

Later that day, the boy and his mother reported the abuse to Yorktown police.

Cleary will be sentenced as a second child sexual assault felony offender on March 10th. He faces a maximum of five to fifteen years in state prison.

Cleary was listed as a Level 2 sex offender, on a scale from 1 to 3, with 3 being the most dangerous. He has served three brief stints behind bars following his encounters with children, according to records:

- In 1999, he was sentenced to four months in jail in Nassau County after being convicted of first-degree attempted sexual abuse, a felony, of a 12-year-old boy a year earlier. He got five years' probation and was designated a Level 2, or moderate risk, sex offender.

- In 2005, he was sentenced to 90 days in the Westchester County jail after pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a minor after police found him with a 15-year-old boy in his car behind the movie theaters at the Cortlandt Town Center.

- In 2007, he was sentenced to six months in the Westchester jail after pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and unlawfully dealing with a child in Yorktown.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Minosa Echols - Repeat Sex Offender - Historically perverted

• AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL SEXUAL ABUSE/VICTIM <13>
• Offender's age at conviction: 43
• Victim Age: 13

• AGGRAVATED CRIMINAL SEXUAL ABUSE/VICTIM 13-16
• Offender's age at conviction: 43
• Victim Age: 13

A convicted sex offender has been charged with raping a woman at gunpoint in a car in a Humboldt Park alley in July 2006 after he threatened to kill her if she didn't enter his car, authorities said today.

Bail was set at $600,000 Wednesday for Minosa Echols, 47, of the 1400 block of North Luna Avenue, who was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon.

DNA evidence linked Echols to the rape, and the 26-year-old victim identified him in a lineup, Assistant State's Atty. Kevin Nolan told Cook County Judge Maura Slattery Boyle.

Echols was convicted of sex offenses involving separate underage girls in 2004 and 2000, Nolan said.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Leon Howard Anderson - Repeat Sex Offender - On the Prowl

Leon Howard Anderson, the convicted sex offender who allegedly tried to abduct a teenager walking on a Sparta street last week, now is being eyed by authorities for possible ties to other unsolved cases, according to detectives.

The 49-year-old Cedar Springs man is lodged in the Kent County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He was arraigned earlier this week on charges of assault with intent to commit a felony after the alleged attack on the 19-year-old in Sparta. Anderson's next court date is Jan. 22 in Rockford District Court.

The victim told police she was walking on Averill Street about 2 p.m. Friday when a man stopped his truck to ask her a question, then tried to force her inside. She fought off her attacker with help from three passers-by, who stopped their vehicle to assist her.

They declined to speak to The Press but got the truck's license plate number, which helped police track down Anderson.

The victim said she did not know the suspect. Stranger assaults are uncommon, noted Kent County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Ron Gates.

"This is a rare type of crime in our area, and we are looking at interviewing him and getting copies of the Sparta Police report," Gates said.

The sheriff's department continues to investigate a case from September, when a jogger told police she was attacked in the pre-dawn darkness and sexually assaulted in an Alpine Township ditch.

Gates said some force was used in that attack, and detectives plan to see if there are any ties to the Sparta case.

But the Alpine Township incident involved an adult woman, and Anderson's previous victims have been youths, according to court records. The victim in the Sparta attack was described as a petite young woman.

In 1989, Anderson pled guilty to attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a victim younger than 13.

In May 1993, he pled guilty to multiple felony counts including second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a relative and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, for which he spent seven years in prison.

He is registered as a sex offender, according to state records.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Don Sorenson III - Repeat Sex Offender - Internet Predator

A man accused of raping a teenage girl he met over the Internet was sentenced today. He committed the crime while on probation for other child sex abuse charges.

Don Sorenson III, 24, will serve one 15 years to life sentence for the first-degree felony rape of a child, and another five to life sentence for another single count of felony rape with a minor. He will serve his sentences concurrently. The judge said he took Sorenson's previous convictions into account when deciding on the sentence.

Sorenson admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl. Both of the victims told authorities that 24-year-old Sorenson claimed to be 18 years old and that he sent them pictures of his genitals via cell phone.

According to court documents, a 16-year-old girl alerted the Utah Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about a registered sex offender dating young girls he met on MySpace.

In 2006 Sorenson was charged with two counts of unlawful sex with a minor, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges in June 2007 and was ordered to 90 days in jail and two years probation. He was also placed on the sex offender registry.

The Utah Attorney General's Office says Sorenson committed these two latest counts of rape only a few months after he was released from jail. He's still waiting to be sentenced for violating that probation, too.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Jeffery Holmgren - Repeat Sex Offender -

Conviction date not reported
Offender has a history of sexual conduct and attempted abduction with a juvenile female (age unknown). The contact included fondling. Offender gained access to victim by approaching her in a public place. Offender was not known to victim. Offender also has a history of indecent exposure to adult females.
Offender's age at conviction not reported

A community is reeling after a man they successfully fought to have classified as a level 3 sex offender was apparently caught trying to lure a girl into his car.

At the time of the alleged incident, he was awaiting trial for a similar crime in North Branch, Minn.

Repeat sex offender Jeffery Holmgren he moved next door to a home child care center a half block from an elementary school.

"He's a danger to society because obviously he can't control himself," said concerned neighbor Ann Trippler.

It was on Payne Avenue in the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Eve when police say Holmgren followed a young adolescent girl walking down the sidewalk in his car.

"(A witness) heard him ask or tell the girl, 'Hey, get in the car. I'll give you a ride. Get in the car.' And she said no, she kept walking. The vehicle then tried to cut her off," said St. Paul police spokesperson Peter Panos.

The restaurant owner watching then took her inside and called police, who later caught Holmgren.

"He even admits that he was trying to get her in the car," said Panos.

"Knowing his history, I was not surprised to see another offense. It was just a matter of time," said worried parent Ann Florin.

Holmgren was later picked up for violating conditions of release while awaiting trial for aggravated harassment and stalking teenage girls in the summer of 2008.

"It's aggravating. You kind of wish something would be done," said concerned neighbor Bile-Jo Martin.

Friday, Holmgren was back in court and pleaded guilty to the stalking and harassment in North Branch.

"It's frustrating to see this happen again and again," said Martin.

Mothers in Chisago City -- who've been monitoring Holmgren's behavior since he moved in -- wonder how many more sex crimes he has to commit before the court gets tough.

"It has to stop now," said Florin.

Holmgren is being held in the Chisago County Jail until he's sentenced in February.

He was cited, but never charged in the St. Paul luring incident because the victim left before police arrived.

Investigators and prosecutors are urging her to come forward to strengthen the case against Holmgren.

Prosecutors are trying hard to persuade the judge to give him prison time on the felony charges. Sentencing guidelines use complicated formula to determine the punishment.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Robert Musmacker - Repeat Sex Offender - Passing out a dose of AIDS

In 1992, Musmacker served 6 years in Attica State Prison after pleading guilty to first-degree sodomy. Prosecutors said Musmacker's victim was a 6-year-old relative.


A convicted sex offender who has AIDS was arrested in the company of a 16-year-old boy, leading Suffolk law enforcement officials to worry that the boy - and possibly others - have been exposed to the deadly virus that causes the disease.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota urged others who have had sexual contact with Robert Musmacker, 36, to contact State Police.

On Dec. 28, New York State Trooper Randy Smith pulled over Musmacker near Exit 36 in West Babylon on the Southern State Parkway to issue a ticket for speeding, prosecutors said.

Peering into Musmacker's car, the trooper took note of the driver's 16-year-old passenger, along with Musmacker's undone belt buckle on his pants, prosecutors said. Smith ran the driver's name and discovered Musmacker was a convicted high-level sex offender.

Under questioning from Smith, the boy revealed not only that he'd had sexual contact with Musmacker on several occasions, but also that Musmacker has AIDS, Suffolk prosecutors said.

The boy said Musmacker was even "taking antibiotics for an open lesion in his mouth," Assistant District Attorney Dana Brown said in court.

Outside court, Spota praised the trooper. "It was very keen police instincts and observations that led to this arrest," Spota said.

Investigators believe Musmacker has had sexual contact with at least one other young male and perhaps "a significant number" of others, Spota said.

"If we have other individuals that have had contact there will be more testimony before the grand jury," Spota said, urging potential victims to call the New York State Police Major Case Bureau at 631-756-3390.

Musmacker, of Oceanside, pleaded not guilty to third-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child and other charges. Wearing handcuffs and green jailhouse scrubs, a dazed-looking Musmacker kept silent during his court appearance. Judge Barbara Kahn set bail at $500,000 cash and $1 million bond.

The top count of reckless endangerment carries a maximum sentence of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison.

Musmacker's lawyer, John Byrnes of Sayville, declined to comment outside court but confirmed that his client has AIDS. In court, Byrnes said Musmacker was receiving most of the drugs he needed while in custody to treat the disease but hadn't yet been given his regular dose of Lexapro, an antidepressant.

Starting in 1992, Musmacker served 6 years in Attica State Prison after pleading guilty to first-degree sodomy. Prosecutors said Musmacker's victim was a 6-year-old relative.

An advocate for cracking down on sex offenders after they've served prison terms, Laura Ahearn of Parents for Megan's Law, heaped outrage on sex offenders who, like Musmacker, have AIDS.

"Not only do they have the potential to reoffend, they have the potential to kill," she said.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Alton and Tina Smith - Child Pornographers and Prostituted Children

Any parents whose children had contact with the Smiths or were photographed at their A-1 Hot Shots business are also asked to contact the sheriff's office.

A woman is in jail and her husband sought in what Flagler County deputies described as a child pornography operation that used a Daytona Beach photography studio as a front to victimize hundreds of area children.

A search of the Carlos Court home of Alton Everett Smith Jr. and Tina Marie Smith on Tuesday morning as part of a prostitution investigation turned up hundreds of photos on computer disks depicting children as young 8 years old in sexual positions.

Detectives said some of the pictures also show the Smiths engaging in sexual acts with minors.

Tina Smith, 43, was arrested and charged with 37 counts of child pornography. She was was being held on $925,000 bond.

Alton Smith, 46, who had been arrested and bonded out on a prostitution charge earlier in the month, is still at large.

Investigators said they initially came to the couple's home to arrest their daughter on a charge of prostitution and did not suspect the couple was involved in pornography until their search for evidence in that case turned up photos of naked children.

Now they believe the daughter was likely also victimized by the Smiths.

Deputies said they were still researching whether the photos were distributed to others, which could result in more charges. They have some evidence that video of sex acts in the home taken by hidden cameras was live streamed on the Internet.

Because the couple ran a photography studio in Daytona Beach until last year, they believe some of the victims in the photographs may be from the area and their parents likely don't know their children are victims.

"Their parents are taking them there for a simple shoot, for some type of portfolio to enhance their child's career, like we've seen in the past. But this child may have been abused and mom and dad may have never known that," Flagler County Sheriff's Office Maj. David O'Brien said.

Alton Smith is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with sandy brown hair. He may be traveling on the Intracoastal Waterway on a 1979 blue and white sailboat with hull numbers FL1581MJ.

Anyone with information on Smith's whereabouts is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-277-8477 or text: TIP231plus message to CRIMES (274637).

While the effort to catch Alton Smith is ongoing, investigators are also looking to find and assist the victims.

"We have shut down this operation as a result of this investigation. Now we need to identify and assist the victims," said Sheriff Donald W. Fleming.

Any parents whose children had contact with the Smiths or were photographed at their A-1 Hot Shots business are also asked to contact the sheriff's office.

The case developed from a prostitution investigation. Kristilyn Smith and Alton Smith Jr. were arrested Dec. 12: She was charged with prostitution, and her father was charged as a principal to prostitution, which means he is accused of helping in the prostitution. Each was released from the Flagler County jail after posting $500 bail.

After the arrest, investigators executed a search warrant at the Palm Coast home where all the Smiths live on Carlos Court and found pornographic photos and videos, most showing children in sexual acts and poses, officials said.

Some showed children engaged in sex while others show Tina and Alton Smith having sex with children, an investigator said. Authorities said they found photos showing Kristilyn's son watching his mother's sexual activities. The autistic boy was placed in state custody after his mother's arrest on the prostitution charge.

Peggy Edenfield - Agrees to testify against husband

Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not asking that she get the death penalty.


The first of three family members charged with the sexual abuse slaying of 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. could stand trial this year, prosecutors said.

David Edenfield, 59, of Brunswick faces the death penalty if convicted of malice murder in the killing almost two years ago.

District Attorney Stephen Kelley wants to bring Edenfield to trial in late summer or fall. Edenfield's son, George, a convicted child molester, also faces the death penalty in the slaying. George Edenfield, 33, could face a special civil trial by the end of the year to determine if he is mentally competent to be tried on the criminal charges, Kelley said.

No date has been set for David or George Edenfield. Nor has a trial date been set for Peggy Edenfield, 57, who faces a life sentence in the killing. She is married to David Edenfield and is George Edenfield's mother.

The five-county Brunswick circuit had 25 homicide cases awaiting trial as of Friday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in at least seven of those cases, Kelley said.

None is bigger than those for the accused killers of Christopher Barrios Jr., a case that drew national attention.

The boy was killed March 8, 2007. His body was discovered a week later inside a black plastic trash bag hidden in woods about 2 miles from the Canal Mobile Home Park where he lived.

The three Edenfields were the Barrios family's neighbors. They remain jailed without bail on malice murder, kidnapping and child molestation charges.

Peggy Edenfield has agreed to testify against her husband and son in exchange for prosecutors not asking that she get the death penalty.

Kelley expects pretrial hearings in David Edenfield's case to resume within a couple months. It's been slow going, he said, because of the legal procedures mandated by Georgia's death penalty law.

"It's all time-consuming, but it's part of Georgia's death penalty process," he said.

Peggy's son George Edenfield was a registered sex offender.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Warren McKeever - Repeat Sex Offender - DNA matched rapist

A very dangerous sexual predator is in police custody. Authorities arrested Warren McKeever on Monday in southeast Houston. The 51-year-old Alabama native faces two charges of sexual assault.

McKeever attempted to rape a twelve year old female in 1993

Warren McKeever was arrested in southeast Houston last week. Police say he stabbed and raped two women in two separate incidents. Police used blood from one scene to match to McKeever's DNA.

McKeever has a long history of sexual assault dating back to a conviction in Alabama when he was just 19. He was released most recently from prison in August after having served five years for attacking a young woman with a knife.

McKeever is a registered sex offender in Alabama but it remains unclear to authorities if he needed to register here in Texas.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Bradley James Armstrong - Internet Predator - He was just depressed, that's all

A 30-year-old man asked a police officer posing as a child in an internet chat room to wear a miniskirt with no knickers when they met, a court in Perth has heard.

Bradley James Armstrong appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court today charged with two counts of procuring a child under the age of 16 over the internet.

Armstrong, from the small wheat-belt town of Wongan Hills, asked the "child" if she was a virgin, a police prosecutor told the court.

He told her to "wear a short skirt and no knickers so he could touch her when she was in the car".

While Armstrong was on his computer, police working with the Online Child Exploitation Squad visited him at home, where they found him online and charged him.

In a submission to apply for bail, Armstrong's defence counsel said police had tried to trap his client.

He said Armstrong lived alone, was unemployed, had been staying at home and was bored and depressed.

His parents, who are business people in Wongan Hills, said he could live with them if the court agreed to strict bail conditions, the lawyer said.

"It doesn't give me the confidence that Mr Armstrong would observe them," the magistrate Peter Malone told the court.

"So, no, I don't propose to release Mr Armstrong today."

Armstrong was remanded in custody until January 28 for his next court appearance.

Barry Williams - Repeat Sex Offender - 66 year old busted

Police say a registered sex offender in Bullhead City has been arrested after buying two teenage girls alcohol and cigarettes, convincing them to dance in only their underwear and trying to touch 1 of them.

Bullhead City police spokeswoman Emily Montague said Wednesday that the 13- and 14-year-old girls say Barry Williams befriended them.

Montague says after the 66-year-old convinced them to dance for him in his living room in their underwear and videotaping it, Williams exposed himself and tried to inappropriately touch 1 of them.

Williams was arrested Tuesday on one count of indecent exposure to a minor, one count of attempted molestation of a minor and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

He's being held in Mohave County jail.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

........Sarah Tofte

Damon L. Kayes - Repeat Sex Offender

A convicted high-risk sex offender was arrested Sunday for assault and resisting arrest after police were called to his home to investigate a complaint of sexual abuse of a 3-year-old girl.

Damon L. Kayes, 40, was arrested at about 10:20 p.m. at his home on Kail Street on the city's West Side.

Kayes allegedly left his home before police arrived, but then fought with officers when he returned, according to a police report.

He was charged with second-degree assault, resisting arrest and second-degree obstruction of governmental administration.

Kayes pleaded guilty in 1995 to the rape of a girl under the age of 17 in Allegany. He was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison, according to the state Department of Correctional Services' Web site.

He is listed in the state's sex offender registry as a Level 3 offender, which denotes convicts who have the highest risk of committing another sex crime.

Prior to that, he also was convicted in 1988 of first-degree burglary and sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison. He was paroled in 1994.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Raymond Roy - Member of Jim Freemans Pedophile Ring takes the plea

Raymond Roy of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., today became the sixth defendant to plead guilty for his involvement in a global child pornography trafficking enterprise, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Thomas F. Kirwin and FBI Executive Assistant Director J. Stephen Tidwell announced.

Roy was one of 14 alleged members of the enterprise who were charged in a 40-count superseding indictment on March 19, 2008. He pleaded guilty today to five counts relating to his criminal activities as a member of a group engaged in a child exploitation enterprise. The charges alleged in these counts include conspiracy to advertise, transport, ship, receive and possess child pornography; advertising child pornography; transporting child pornography; and receiving child pornography.

Roy admitted today to participating over a two-year period in a technically sophisticated and well-organized criminal enterprise whose purpose was to traffic sexually abusive images of children, or child pornography, to its membership. According to Roy's guilty plea, members of the illegal organization used Internet newsgroups, which are large file-sharing networks where text, software, pictures and videos can be traded and shared, to traffic in illegal images and videos depicting pre-pubescent children, including toddlers, engaged in various sexual and sadistic acts. Group members used sophisticated encryption methods to avoid detection and traded more than 400,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse before their networks were dismantled by law enforcement. The current charges were developed after law enforcement infiltrated the group in August 2006.

Roy faces a minimum prison sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison in addition to statutory fines. His sentencing is scheduled for March 10, 2009.

Trial for the remaining defendants is scheduled to begin on January 5, 2009, in Pensacola, Fla., before Senior U.S. District Judge Lacey A. Collier. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

This case was brought 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 U.S. 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Goldberg of the Northern District of Florida and Trial Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Queensland, Australia, Police Service, with the assistance of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) Child Pornography Unit in Germany, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in the United Kingdom.

Anthony LaMantia - Repeat Sex Offender - new 163 count Indictment

A Sullivan County grand jury on Tuesday handed up a 163-count indictment against a convicted sex offender accused of sex acts against two children.

Anthony LaMantia, 56, of Liberty, is charged with repeatedly abusing a girl and a boy from 1998 to 2004. The girl was 10 when the sexual abuse started around 1998, while the boy was 13 in 2001 when he was first abused, court papers say.

If convicted on the top charges of first-degree sodomy and course of sexual conduct against a child, LaMantia faces five to 25 years in prison on each count.

LaMantia was also indicted for first-degree sexual abuse, sodomy in second and third degrees and criminal sexual act in the first and third degrees, felonies.

LaMantia was convicted of rape in 2005 for having sexual intercourse with two other pre-teen acquaintances during the same period. He was sentenced to 10 years probation and stamped a Level 2 sex offender.

Two recent complaints compelled detectives to revisit his case.

An anonymous caller reported that LaMantia was offering to baby-sit children at his apartment complex. He was also caught staring at one of the victims in a local grocery store. Both victims are now young adults and can accurately describe the acts forced on them, authorities say.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Christopher D. Ellison - Repeat Sex Offender - Caught with Child Porn - AGAIN

Troy Chief of Police Jeff Taylor announced the arrest of a Troy man for possession of child pornography and failing to register as a sex offender.

According to the report, Officer Brian Johnson took the initial report from a subject in Troy. Apparently, this subject took a computer to an acquaintance for computer repairs. After receiving the computer back, the subject discovered possible videos of child sexual exploitation. This subject came forward and provided the computer to the police department.

Detectives with the Troy Police Department responded to the suspect's residence for further investigation. Contact was made with the suspect, Christopher D. Ellison, 28, Troy. During the investigation, it was determined that Ellison currently had an active warrant for being a non-compliant sex offender from New Jersey. In addition, Ellison had not registered as a sex offender in Missouri. Ellison was taken into custody and transported to the Lincoln County Jail.

Contact was made with G. John Richards, Prosecuting Attorney of Lincoln County. Richards assisted in preparing an affidavit and complaint for a search warrant for Ellison's residence. After review, a search warrant was granted by the Honorable Judge Amy Kinker.

Detectives then executed the warrant at Ellison's residence. During the search, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and printed images of child sexual exploitation were located. In addition, several computer hardware items and digital media storage devices were located. These items were seized and further investigation will be conducted by the Troy Police Department.

Ellison has been charged with the class D felony of failing to register as a sex offender and four (4) counts of the class B felony of possession of child pornography. Ellison had previously been convicted in New York State for possession of child pornography. His bond was set at $50,000 (cash only) by Judge Kinker. He remains in custody at the Lincoln County Jail.

Chief Taylor stated that this arrest would not have been possible if the citizen had not come forward with the suspected child pornography. "I would encourage everyone to take an active role in reporting suspicious behavior to their local police department," Taylor said. "I believe Christopher Ellison was a danger to our community and because of our citizens and police working together, he is now incarcerated."

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"

.........Sarah Tofte

Todd Robert Dixon - Child Predator sentenced to 3 years

A 40-year-old Elk Grove man has been sentenced to three years in state prison and must register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life following his Tuesday sentencing for soliciting a 17-year-old girl for prostitution.

Todd Robert Dixon was sentenced by Judge Thomas Warriner. Dixon faced a maximum of six years in state prison.

According to Chief Deputy District Attorney Ann Hurd, Dixon had solicited the 17-year-old girl in West Sacramento to have sex with him on Dec. 27, 2007.

Dixon was convicted on Aug. 11, 2008, by a Yolo County jury of pandering. Hurd explained that since Dixon was convicted of this sex offense with a minor, he has remained out of custody on bail and continued his employment with the United Parcel Service.

"Despite Dixon's plea to the court for probation, and his plea to remain out on bail," Hurd reported, "Judge Warriner immediately remanded Dixon into custody after the conclusion of (the) sentencing hearing."

Hurd reported that Dixon solicited a friend's 17-year-old stepdaughter to have sex with him by sending her a text message which read, "U with me 1 Night 200 or More."

The girl immediately told her parents about Dixon's solicitation and her stepfather told the West Sacramento Police Department, Hurd reported.

"Very much like the NBC television show, 'To Catch a Predator,' law enforcement used an undercover officer to respond to the text message Dixon sent to the seventeen year-old's cell phone," Hurd stated.

"Ultimately, law enforcement arrested Dixon at a Motel 6 in West Sacramento where Dixon was waiting to pay this girl to have sex with him. Ironically, when the officers went inside the motel room they saw Dixon had been watching the NBC television show 'To Catch a Predator.' Officers also found beer and sexual lubricant inside the motel room."