An example of why I firmly believe in the death penalty...

Miakoda

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...and why the death penalty is under-used.


Vast international child-porn network uncovered

BOSTON (AP) — The men came from different walks of life on two continents: a children's puppeteer in Florida, a hotel manager in Massachusetts, an emergency medical technician in Kansas, a day care worker in the Netherlands. In all, 43 men have been arrested over the past two years in a horrific, far-flung child porn network that unraveled like a sweater with a single loose thread.

In this case, the thread was a stuffed toy bunny.

The bunny, seen in a photo of a half-naked, distraught 18-month-old boy, was used to painstakingly trace a molester to Amsterdam. From there, investigators made one arrest after another of men accused of sexually abusing children, exchanging explicit photos of the attacks and even chatting online about abducting, cooking and eating youngsters.

Authorities have identified more than 140 young victims so far and say there is no end in sight as they pore through hundreds of thousands of images found on the suspects' computers. They are also trying to determine whether the men who talked about murder and cannibalism actually committed such acts or were just sharing twisted fantasies.

The still-widening investigation has been code-named Holitna, after a river in Alaska with many tributaries.

"They are the worst of the worst," said Bruce Foucart, agent in charge of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agency's Homeland Security Investigations unit in Boston. "This isn't just a child that's nude and someone's taking pictures of him; this is a child that's being raped by an adult, which is horrific."

The case began to unfold when Robert Diduca, a Sheraton hotel manager from Milford, Mass., sent the photo of the Dutch boy to an undercover federal agent in Boston. Diduca, a married father of three who used the screen name "Babytodd," thought he was sending the picture to another man with a sexual interest in babies and toddlers.

Agents forwarded the photo to Interpol, the international police organization, and to several other countries.

An investigator for the Dutch police recognized the stuffed bunny as Miffy, a familiar character in a series of Dutch children's books. She also traced the boy's orange sweater to a small Amsterdam store that had sold only 20 others like it.

The boy's photo was broadcast on a national TV program similar to "America's Most Wanted." Within minutes, friends and relatives called the child's mother.

Robert Mikelsons, a 27-year-old day care worker who baby-sat the boy, was arrested. On his computer were thousands and thousands of images of children being molested and raped, including the boy holding the stuffed bunny.

Photos and online chats found on computers owned by Diduca and Mikelsons led to more than three dozen other suspects in seven countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. The oldest victim in the Netherlands was 4, the youngest just 19 days old.

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, whose office prosecuted Diduca, said the demand for photos of sexual assaults of young children, including babies and toddlers, has increased sharply in recent years.

"This demand leads to the abuse of children, yet there is this misconception that somehow, viewing child pornography is a victimless crime," said. "It clearly is not."

Diduca pleaded guilty to child porn and sexual exploitation charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. His lawyer, Richard Sweeney, said Diduca was sexually abused as a child by a Boy Scout leader. "He gets it, he knows he needs to be punished, he knows what he did is wrong," Sweeney said.

Mikelsons also received an 18-year sentence, followed by indefinite psychiatric commitment, after confessing to sexually abusing more than 80 children.

The horror did not let up after the Mikelsons case.

In May, authorities arrested Michael Arnett of Roeland Park, Kan., after finding pornographic photos he allegedly produced. Agents discovered the pictures when they searched the computer of a Wisconsin man who had been chatting online with Mikelsons.

What they found on Arnett's computer was unlike anything some of the investigators had ever come across: long, graphic, online chats about his desire to abduct, kill and eat children. They said he had also made photos of a naked 2-year-old boy in a roasting pan inside his oven. The child and two other boys Arnett allegedly abused and photographed were later identified and found alive.

In July, authorities arrested four men they say had online discussions with Arnett about kidnapping and eating children. Those arrested included Ronald Brown, a children's puppeteer from Largo, Fla. (A YouTube video shows Brown during an appearance on a Christian TV kids show in the 1980s. In the video, he tells a child puppet that he did the right thing by refusing to look at "dirty pictures" some other youngsters tried to show him.)

In excerpts of an online chat between Arnett and Brown from 2011, the two men appear to be discussing their desire to cook a child for Easter.

"he would make a fine Easter feast," Arnett says.

"yes, his thighs and butt cheeks would be fantastic for Easter," Brown responds.

A lawyer for Arnett would not comment on the allegations. Brown's lawyer did not return calls.

Prosecutors said Brown acknowledged his online conversations but said that it was all a fantasy and that he would never hurt anyone.

"Obviously the discussions regarding their claims of cannibalism are disturbing and a concern to our agency," said ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein. He said agents are following all leads "to make sure these individuals didn't follow through on any of their claims."

To find the young victims, investigators carefully studied thousands of photos, read hours of Internet chats and worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They also employed some forensic wizardry.

After finding a video on Diduca's computer of a bound, 2-year-old boy being raped, investigators enhanced the images of furniture and carpet and determined the attack took place in a motel room in Bakersfield, Calif.

Then they pinpointed the date by way of a TV that was playing in the background in the video, figuring out exactly when a particular episode of "Family Matters" aired along with a certain Pepperidge Farms commercial.

A man from Black Forest, Colo., was arrested and is awaiting trial.

Similarly, in the Arnett case, investigators discovered that a water bottle in one of the photographs carried the name of a swim and scuba center in Overland Park, Kan. With the help of teachers at an elementary school, they identified three children shown in the photographs, including the toddler posed in the roasting pan.

The mother of one of the boys said she initially did not believe the allegations against Arnett, a family friend for about 15 years. She said her son, now 7, and several nephews often spent weekends at Arnett's home four or five years ago.

"Well, when we first got the phone call, we thought there's no way. You guys got the wrong guy," she said. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual abuse or their families.

But then investigators showed her photos Arnett had allegedly taken of her son with a shirt and no pants.

"Regret? For sending my son with a sick-minded guy, that's the only regret I have. I had no idea," she said. "It's depressing."

For the agents working on the case, the leads never seem to end.

Last week, they arrested another Massachusetts man after finding child pornography and photos of what appeared to be dead children on his computer. He allegedly had online chats with Arnett and Brown.

More arrests are expected.

"The agents that work for me are extremely driven on this type of investigation," said Bart Cahill, assistant agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston. "They really believe that they are taking out horrific violators and saving kids."

___

Associated Press writers Maria Sudekum in Kansas City, Mo., and Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.
 

Miakoda

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I've been following this case since it was first made public. I don't know whether to throw up, cry, scream, or wish someone would grab a gun and rid society of these monsters. In the end, I do all of it.

Words cannot even describe the hatred I feel towards people who abuse children. Sexual abuse of a 19-day-old child? Raping infants and toddlers? And then just get 18 measly friggin years in prison for it all?

Child molesters and rapists deserve the death penalty with no chance for life without parole. The death penalty should be an immediate judgement.

I don't even know what else to say......
 

Picklepaige

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#3
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. There is absolutely no reason why an extreme pedophile (12 and under, "consent" or not) who acts on its impulses should exist in society. None. These kids are going to grow up so traumatized.
 

Miakoda

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Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. There is absolutely no reason why an extreme pedophile (12 and under, "consent" or not) who acts on its impulses should exist in society. None. These kids are going to grow up so traumatized.
As a parent, this is one of my worst nightmares. Its mind-boggling the number of people you must put your trust in as they care for your children in some manner or another.

I don't even know what I would do if I found out one of my boys was sexually abused in any way. Honestly, my mother's instinct would tell me to rid the earth of the person who did it.

I know this sounds odd, but if me being raped was in the cards for my life, I'm sooo glad it happened when I was 20 and not when I was 2 or 4 or 6. I cannot even begin to say I could imagine the mental turmoil a young child would go through, and I cannot imagine the intense physical pain of such an act.

If we won't give these people the death penalty, then we at least need to turn them into eunichs. End of discussion.
 

Dizzy

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Sexual abuse cases are horrific, but if it reassures people in any way at all, they are quite rare (compared to other harms children face in terms of abuse). You just hear about them because they're horrific. Be cautious, but you have to also teach trust.... Trust is scary.

As for those men, I do think there are fates worse than death, and I suspect they'll know it intimately soon enough.
 

joce

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What are the statistics on sexual abuse? I don't think it is that rare. It's a question we ask and more often than not its a yes. Think of how many deny. Think of how many never report. Much higher than it should be. I have several friends that were abused while younger.

The eating thing madey skin crawl. I hope they thoughly checked him out.
 

sparks19

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#12
You know what gets me? The part where it says "he was sexually abused as a child by a scout leader. He gets it, he kniws what he did was wrong and he knows he needs to be punished". As if that is reason enough to give him less time than he deserves (which is life without parole at best). Really? He gets it? He kniws it is wrong? Well then I think that should make him MORE accountable. Knew it was wrong buy does it anyway and enjoys it until he gets caught and then the remorse comes out? NO. That is remorse for being caught not for the act.

Sick bastards. I say announce it to the prison and then the guards should leave the room and let karma do its thing.
 

joce

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#13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse

I think the 25% numbers are accurate. The population I see is much higher but that makes sense to.


The people abused are at a higher risk for abusing others themselves and having issues like personality disorders.

Look very carefully at the sexual predator list in your area and know that that is only a small small amount of them.
 

sparks19

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#14
I get that the abused are at higher risk for abusing others... What I don't believe is the "he gets it... He knows it is wrong". Therefore he should be pitied? Nope. I don't care what happened to you as a child, there is no excuse for doing that to more children and it shouldn't be a factor in determining a shorter sentence. If anything I think it should guarantee a longer sentence.
 

LindaJD

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If I read the article right, the one sentenced to 18 years didn't do the raping, he had the pictures of it on his computer. Still got too light of a sentence but just wanted to point that out.
 

ihartgonzo

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#19
Wow. This made me feel sick. :(

I can't even fathom WTF could go wrong in a person's brain... to make them want to rape & eat babies. That's like a monster from a morbid fairytale, it doesn't seem like it could be real. IDGAF if they're going to get raped and beat in prison, to sentence them to 18 years for ruining the lives of 80 innocent babies?!? Those people do not deserve to live, and they absolutely never deserve the chance to get out of prison and do that to another child. No amount of psychological help, medication or counselling can help these sickos. And they do not deserve the help. I feel for those investigators, to go through those pictures painstakingly! OMG! I couldn't do it, I would be scarred for life.

This makes me so afraid for my child. Regardless, I wouldn't let a man babysit my kid. That might sound sexist (and I know women do horrible things too) but I don't even KNOW any guys who would want to babysit a child... and if they were all about it, I'd be suspicious & wouldn't trust them - not because I think they're molesters, because they're guys! How the hell could a Mom just leave her 2 year-old and other little boys with a grown man who is a "family friend" for WEEKS straight? That's not normal. She must have been in denial about the situation and just wanted some one to take her kids off her hands.
 

Grab

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#20
I would let a man babysit my child, assuming they passed the same screening I use for anyone who watches my kid. We have a very short list of people we trust to watch him and all have been people we know personally.

But, I'm not more leery of a man vs a woman.
 

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