Trump Delegate Indicted on Weapons and Child Porn Charges

As Bernie Sanders continues his ego driven campaign, we are again being offered a look at the type of people supporting Donald Trump and his fascist agenda.  In addition to white supremacy groups and ignorance embracing Christofascists, it turns out that one of Trump's Maryland delegates has been indicted on federal weapons charges and for child pornography.  Yet, Sanders seems intent on helping to put Trump and his ugly agenda in the White House.  Mother Jones looks at this latest expose of the ugly underbelly of the Trump army of supporters.  Here are story highlights:

A Maryland delegate selected by Donald Trump's presidential campaign for the Republican National Convention was indicted on Wednesday on federal weapons and child pornography charges.

The federal indictment alleges that Caleb Andrew Bailey, 30, of Waldorf, Maryland, illegally mailed a cache of ammunition and explosives through the US Postal Service and illegally possessed a machine gun and child pornography. The indictment also further alleges that Bailey "attempted to use and did use a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography."

Joe Cluster, the executive director for the Maryland Republican Party, confirmed to Mother Jones that Bailey was approved by the Trump campaign as a delegate to the GOP convention from Maryland's 5th Congressional District. Bailey could not immediately be reached for comment.

Questions remain as to how the Trump campaign has vetted its delegates for the GOP national convention. Earlier this month, Mother Jones reported that the Trump campaign approved a white nationalist leader as one of its delegates from California. That prompted the delegate, William Johnson, to resign. The Trump campaign blamed Johnson's inclusion on a "database error."

Christian Radio Host Left a Trail of Molested Children

The professional Christian crowd likes to depict gays as promiscuous, sleeping with an improbable number of different men, and always looking for an opportunity to molest children.  Perhaps they are engaging in classic transference of the deeds of one of their own to the gay community if one looks at the case of case of Christian radio host John Balyo who when not pretending to be a man of god was engaging in serial child molestation.  Fox News looks at Balyo's trail of victims.  Here are excerpts:

Federal prosecutors referred to former Christian radio host John Balyo as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” who was “living a double life” in court documents obtained Friday by FOX 17 NEWS.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller filed the Sentencing & Restitution Memorandum in advance of Balyo’s Dec. 11 sentencing in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Balyo, 35, of Caledonia pleaded guilty in Calhoun County Circuit Court to first-degree criminal-sexual conduct. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges in the sexual assaults of the child at a Kalamazoo hotel.

Balyo is serving a sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison for molesting a boy in May in a hotel in Battle Creek.

The documents contain two pictures of the bondage kit that prosecutors say Balyo assembled and which was later confiscated.

They say Balyo had a storage unit where he kept not only the bondage kit but also  a collection of newspaper articles on children and serial killers; notebooks containing numerous boys’ names and notations about them; photographs of nude children; DVDs; and recording and computer equipment, among other items.

The documents say Balyo possessed a life-sized anatomically correct mannequin of a boy, wearing a blond wig, that he kept tied up inside a dog crate. Homeland Security agents found photographs of Balyo pointing a handgun at the mannequin, which was tied up to a post.

The documents also contain details of Balyo and Ronald Moser assaulting young victims at a Kalamazoo hotel on April 19 and May 9 as well as at a Battle Creek hotel on May 17.

The documents say that “Balyo operated under the table, living a double life. On the outside, he was a law abiding, charitable, upstanding citizen… But underneath the surface, he was feeding  a morbid and sadistic fascination with children, creating and accumulating pedophilic materials, rehearsing a sexual kidnapping fantasy with a gun and a child-sized mannequin, and meeting clandestinely in hotel rooms with young boys in bondage.”

I hate to say it, but Balyo may have been living the secret fantasies of many of the loudest homophobes of the professional Christian crowd.  One is not so hysterical about gays unless something is going on in terms of one's own sexuality.

Christian Radio Host Fund Guilty of Sexually Assaulting 12-Year-Old Boy

UPDATED:  Balyo has admitted to raping a second boy.  Via the Detroit Free Press: 

Balyo admitted today in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. "I performed sex acts as described. I knew it was wrong.'' Balyo and Ronald Lee Moser paid the boy for his involvement in the April 19th assault. His hands and feet were handcuffed and he was tied to the bed, according to courtroom statements today. While bound, Balyo took nine photos of the boy, first in his underwear and then naked. The boy's family wept in the back of the sixth floor courtroom as details of the assault were told to Magistrate Ellen Carmody during today's plea hearing.

 
The husband teases me at times, but one thing I do like to do is expose hypocrisy via this blog - or at least help make sure stories of hypocrisy get a wider readership.  No one provides more fodder for exposing hypocrisy than today's Republicans and the "godly Christians" to whom the GOP prostitutes itself unceasingly.   The latter category includes John Balyo, a Christian radio host, who is facing between 15 and 50 years in prison.  Why you might ask?  Because Balyo is to be sentenced in November on charges of sexual exploitation of a child  - a 12 year old boy - and possession of child pornography.  The Raw Story looks at this story which is all to familiar to those who follow the misdeeds of the "godly folk":

A 34-year-old former Michigan Christian radio host pleaded guilty on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy and storing images of the attack on his computer, WOOD-TV reported.

John Balyo faces between 15 and 50 years in prison when he is sentenced in November on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. He also faces additional charges from prosecutors in nearby Calhoun County for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Balyo admitted to meeting the boy through another man, identified by Mlive.com as 42-year-old Ronald Moser, in a hotel room in Kalamazoo this past April and paying the boy in cash for the encounter.

“I performed a sexual act as described and I knowingly possessed the images on my camera,” Balyo was quoted as saying. “I knew it was wrong.”

The charge against Balyo in Calhoun County stems from a search last month of a storage unit he was renting. According to WOOD, investigators found a “bondage kit” inside the unit, as well as children’s costumes and socks and an adult publication with sections related to child pornography highlighted. Balyo admitted to assaulting the boy following the search.

He was fired from his job at WCSG-FM, where he worked as a morning show host, following his arrest.

Norfolk Pastor Arrested for Child Porn

Yet another example of hypocrisy in the pulpit has arisen.  This time it involves David William Smith (shown at left), pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Norfolk, Virginia.  Interestingly and perhaps tellingly, Trinity Lutheran is a member of the vociferously anti-gay Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church which largely ceased all cooperative work with the larger Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (which I belong to) when that denomination adopted gay friendly policies and voted to allow gay clergy.  Like the stridently anti-gay Southern Baptist Convention, the Missouri Synod Lutherans need to focus more on cleaning out their own foul house as opposed to stigmatizing and denigrating gays on a regular basis.  Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

The pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church was arrested this afternoon on child pornography charges.

David William Smith, 35, faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography, a felony, police said. He is in city jail on no bond. The arrest followed an investigation by Norfolk police’s computer crimes section.

The church, which also operates a school, is in the 6000 block of Granby St. According to the church’s website, Smith was installed as the pastor in November 2010.

It almost always seems to be the far right denominations that are bizarrely obsessed with all things sexual like the Missouri Synod crowd that have the sexual deviants in the pulpit.

Lawyer For Anti-Gay Alliance Found Guilty Of Making Child Porn

I do not like to revel in the misfortune of others, but at times it is hard to fight the urge to do so, especially when such misfortunes overtake those who make careers in peddling anti-gay hate and bigotry.  This blog previously noted the indictment of Lisa Biron who was arrested in 2012 after taking a teenage girl to Canada and filming her have sex with two adult men.  Biron's trial has now concluded and she was convicted of the charges brought against her.  The irony, of course is that Biron had been an attorney for the virulently anti-gay Christofascist organization Alliance Defense Fund, proving once again that it is the self-congratulatory, falsely pious "godly Christian" crowd that one most needs to watch when it comes to issues of sexual perversion.  Queerty had coverage.  Here are excerpts:

A lawyer who has worked with the anti-gay Alliance Defending Freedom has been found guilty of coercing a 14-year-old girl into making pornographic videos.

Manchester, New Hampshire, lawyer Lisa Biron was arrested in 2012 after taking a teenage girl to Canada and filming her have sex with two adult men.

On Friday, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding Biron guilty of eight federal indictments, including transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, possession of child pornography, and sexual exploitation of a child.

Biron was remanded into custody last fall after breaking the conditions of her bail. According to the Concord Monitor:

* Two witnesses testified to seeing Biron in possession of ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine.
* Biron sent a threatening text message to the person who turned her in to the police, advising him he would have to watch his back “FOR EVER.”
* Biron sent a text to a friend saying she might flee to Cuba because she had “nothing left.”
* Biron has asked people to lie to law enforcement about her case.
* Other juveniles have been subjected to Biron’s sexual activity and drug use.

During the trial, jurors listened to a recording of a jailhouse phone call between Biron and her father, in which she claimed the girl “had a part in this.”  Biron’s sentencing is scheduled for April, when prosecutors say they’ll ask for a nice long prison sentence.

ADF is a legal foundation founded in 1994 by, among others, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson and American Family Association’s Donald Wildmon.

I have long maintained that those who hang onto the legalistic, hate and fear based teachings of far right Christianity are compensating for their own inner demons and sexual perversions - perversions they trey to transfer to others.   When someone wraps themselves in conservative Christianity and rants about the damnation of others, the best option is to run for safety, guarding your purse or wallet as you run fleeing.

Catholic Deacon Arrested On Child Porn Charges

While the morally bankrupt Pope Benedict XVI continues to rail against gay rights, the filth within the ranks of the Catholic Church clergy continues unabated.  In Montreal, a Catholic deacon who is the former communications director for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Ottawa, has been arrested on child pornography charges.  The deacon,  William Kokesch (pictured at left),was also entrusted by the conference to coordinate the Canadian delegation to World Youth Day Catholic celebrations in Cologne, Germany.   The Montreal Gazette has details.  These are highlights:

MONTREAL — A prominent West Island deacon — who used to comment on church sexual abuse scandals — is expected to appear in court on Monday after being charged on the weekend with the production and distribution of child pornography.

William Kokesch, a 65-year-old deacon of St. Edmund of Canterbury Parish in Beaconsfield, was arrested Friday after police carried out two search warrants — one at his home in Pointe Claire and the other at the church.

Police seized more than 2,000 computer files as well as messages left on chat-room sites on the Internet.  “Police conducted the searches after receiving a complaint from a citizen,” said Constable Danny Richer.

Kokesch, a Vancouver native who is married and the father of five adult children, was formally charged via a video conference on Saturday. He did not enter a plea at his arraignment, and he is to appear in court again on Monday morning.

Kokesch, who was ordained as a “permanent deacon” in the diocese of Montreal in 1981, then served as the communications director for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Ottawa. In 2005, he was entrusted by the conference to coordinate the Canadian delegation to World Youth Day Catholic celebrations in Cologne, Germany.

 I continue to believe that much of the sex abuse problems within the ranks of the Catholic Clergy derives directly from the Church's bizarre fixation on all things sexual and the maladjusted psycho sexual development that stems from such an unnatural depiction of normal sexuality as something dirty.

Member of Anti-Gay Alliance Defense Fund Arrested for Child Pornography

Once again we see the hypocrisy of the anti-gay Christofascist set coming to the fore - a member of the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund who is also a member of a national coalition of Christian lawyers (pictured at right) has been arrested on child pornography charges.  It never ceases to amaze me (although I guess at this point I should no longer be amazed) that it seems to almost always be the most vociferous anti-gay "Christians" who are the ones engaging in either same sex trysts themselves (e.g., former Congressman Ed Schrock) or child porn.  To be clear, I am not saying that liberals and Democrats don't get in to similar trouble from time to time, but the vast majority seem to be the ultra-conservative homophobic Christians.   The Concord Monitor has details.  Here are excerpts:

A Manchester lawyer took a teenage girl to Canada, had her engage in sexual activity and convinced her to let it be filmed, according to federal indictments.

FBI agents swiftly arrested Lisa Biron yesterday morning as she awaited a hearing on child pornography charges at Manchester’s district court. About 9 a.m. FBI agents entered the courtroom, told Biron to leave her belongings and took her into an adjoining conference room where she remained for several minutes before coming out in handcuffs.  Outside, Biron ducked her head below the backseat window of a white vehicle as it was driven away from the courthouse.

A few hours later in U.S. District Court in Concord, Biron, who is associated with a national coalition of Christian lawyers, was formally told of the federal charges against her: transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, possession of child pornography and five counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Biron is associated with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group of lawyers who, according to their website, are committed to keeping “the door open for the spread of the Gospel” by advocating for “religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.” In Concord, she worked with the ADF in defending a Pentecostal Church on Mountain Road in its tax fight against the city.

She recently served on the board of directors at Mount Zion Christian Schools in Manchester, according to the school’s headmaster.

On Biron’s Facebook page, which was taken down in recent weeks, she had listed the Bible as her favorite book.

As Joe Jervis correctly notes, the Alliance Defense Fund, recently which changed its name to Alliance Defending Freedom, has a non-stop agenda of working to inflict Christian Sharia Law upon all Americans.  Gays and anything that would afford gays civil rights are, of course, one of the group's favorite targets.

Former Spokesperson for Anti-Gay Lutheran Group Sentenced on Child Porn Charges

Time and time again the hypocrisy of the homophobes - especially those in anti-gay religious organizations - is mind boggling.  The latest example of this truth is Joel W. Hochmuth (pictured at left) , a former spokesman for the anti-gay Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (not to be confused with the gay accepting Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a/k/a the ELCA).  It seems that the homophobic Hochmuth had a penchant for child pornography involving young boys.  One can only assume that Hochmuth projected his own perversity and perhaps self-loathing onto normal gays who live their lives as God made us.  I may seem cold hearted, but I find it very difficult to have much sympathy for Hochmuth who used his synod position to denigrate and malign others who were far more virtuous than himself and worthy of of civil equality.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has details on Hochmuth's criminal sentencing.  Here are highlights:

A former Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod official was placed on probation for 10 years Monday and ordered to serve one year in jail with work-release privileges as a condition of probation for possession of child pornography.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn W. Foster withheld imposing a prison term on Joel W. Hochmuth, 52, of Waukesha, who had faced up to 15 years behind bars followed by 10 years of extended supervision for the crime.

But she warned Hochmuth that if there was any hint of him "going back to any kind of behavior like this," his probation would be revoked and the full "25-year prison sentence will be staring you in the face."  Hochmuth used the Internet to download hundreds of images of boys engaged in sexual acts with other youths and men.

"I appear before you today guilty of an abhorrent and violent crime. I have offended my god, betrayed my wife, shamed our son and dishonored my church. To all of them I apologize. I also apologize to the victims portrayed in the images I viewed and downloaded. That I could have been so drawn to what I was looking at today disgusts me," Hochmuth told Foster.  He said he is in a treatment plan that he began after his arrest.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators found several hundred images on his home computer and 310 photographs and 38 videos on a thumb drive at his WELS office in Wauwatosa. Hochmuth denied downloading any explicit material while at work, or creating his own pornography, the complaint states.

He was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force after an undercover agent identified a residence in Waukesha that was distributing child pornography, according to the complaint. Hochmuth was using a software program that allows individuals to connect to one another's computers and browse and download files as well as chat online, according to the complaint.

The complaint also states that the agent engaged Hochmuth in chats and that in one Hochmuth told the agent that he liked pictures of males who were 10 years old or older, the complaint states.

Yes, Hochmuth is a sick individual.  But his synod is equally sick given the anti-gay hate and bigotry that it disseminates.  Not surprisingly, WELS has in the past supported the "ex-gay" myth and reparative therapy. 

Catholic Bishops Fight Anti-Gay Jihad to Distract From Continued Sex Abuse Scandal Stories

I've noted a number of times how the Roman Catholic bishops seem to escalate their anti-gay jihad every time new stories break about the still growing worldwide sex abuse scandal that is effecting nearly every continent on the globe. The head of the Manchester New Hampshire Diocese has endorsed same sex marriage repeal effort in that state while the head of the Hartford Connecticut Archdiocese is come out in support of a quasi-"ex-gay" program that seeks to have gays remain celibate (he doesn't indicate whether such celibacy is as discretionary as appears to be the case among the Catholic priesthood). Meanwhile, the sex scandals surrounding the Catholic Church continue unabated. Here are a few stories turned up today by my Google search agent:

Dutch Conservative Parties Called for Resignations of Catholic Bishops: Things in the Netherlands continue to be in a free fall in the wake of reports that have revealed tens of thousands of children and youths were sexually abused in Catholic institutions. Now two conservative parties are calling for the resignation of Catholic bishops implicated in the report. Here are details from the National Post:

Two leading politicians in the Netherlands, both from conservative parties, have called for the resignations of Catholic bishops in the wake of a damning report on sexual abuse in the Dutch church.

The country’s prime minister, Mark Rutte, also announced that his cabinet is considering lifting a statute of limitations to allow criminal prosecutions. A complaint has already been filed with the public prosecutor’s office against a former bishop of the Rotterdam diocese, Philippe Bär. An attorney representing alleged victims has charged Bär with covering up abuse during his tenure from 1983 to 1993.

Released on Dec. 16, the report found that somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 Dutch children suffered abuse by Catholic personnel, ranging from unwanted sexual advances to rape, during the period of 1945 to 2010. A commission sponsored by the Catholic bishops and religious orders of Holland produced the report.

On Dec. 17, Holland’s deputy prime minister, Maxime Verhagen, himself a Catholic, said the church has been “profoundly damaged,” and bishops should consider resigning. Verhagen is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal Party, a center-right faction seen as friendly to the church.

Twelve days later, the leader of the Reformed Political Party, another conservative faction of Calvinist origins, argued on national television that a Catholic bishop should resign. Doing so, said Kees van der Staaij, would “send out a strong signal about how seriously the church takes the issue.”

US Catholic Bishop Resigns After Admitting To Fathering Two Children: As I noted above, celibacy is being urged for gays. Too bad the priesthood doesn't conform to what it is preaching to others. Gabino Zavala, the Auxiliary Bishop for Los Angeles is a case in point. Zavala has resigned in the wake of his admission that he fathered two children. Here are highlights from RTT News:

The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Gabino Zavala, the Auxiliary Bishop for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region of Los Angeles who had earlier admitted to having fathered two children.

"The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the post of Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles Gabino Zavala," the Vatican said in a stateme

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced the "sad and difficult" news in a letter to Catholics in the archdiocese. Gomez said that Zavala had informed him in "early December that he is the father of two teenage children who live with their mother in another state."

The development comes amid damages caused to reputation of the Catholic Church in several countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, the Irish Republic and the United States, following sexual abuse scandals involving the clergy.

Canadian bishop gets 15 months in jail in child pornography case: In Canada yet another demonstration of the hypocrisy of the Church hierarchy was provided by the by Bishop Raymond Lahey who spent 15 moths in Jail for his child porn conviction. The Washington Post has details and here are a few highlights:

A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop who admitted he was addicted to looking at child pornography left court Wednesday a free man after being credited for time served in his 15 month sentence.

Bishop Raymond Lahey was arrested at the Ottawa airport in 2009 after customs authorities found almost 600 pornographic photos of young teen boys on his laptop and a handheld device. Some of the porn involved adolescent boys engaged in sex acts while wearing a crucifix and rosary beads.

The case was especially shocking to Canadians because Lahey had overseen a multimillion-dollar settlement for clerical sexual abuse victims in his diocese before he was charged.

Ontario Court Justice Kent Kirkland on Wednesday gave Lahey two-for-one credit for the time he served and two years probation. . . . Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Wednesday that the Vatican had said that once the criminal court case was concluded, church authorities would consider which church law measures to take. Lombardi said it wasn’t known when that decision would be taken but that he expected it would be made public.

After Lahey pleaded guilty, the Vatican said the church would impose its own disciplinary measures against him but did not elaborate.

Mind you that these three stories are just from today's search agent results. That's right, a single day's results. The picture revealed virtually everyday is not much different. As I have asked many times, why does anyone listen to anything the Catholic hierarchy has to say on anything? These men on the whole are beyond morally bankrupt and many rightfully belong behind bars. Yet the mindless idiots in the pews continue to kiss their asses and financially subsidize their organized crime like enterprise. I simple cannot grasp the mindset of the laity who are accomplices to these crimes whether they like to admit it or not.

This Week In Holy Crimes

Of late Joe at Joe By God has been publishing a summary of the prior week's busts of clergy for crimes which typically involve child pornography and or sex with minors. As might be expected, these pastors and priests are most often affiliated with gay-hating denominations that are far to obsessed with condemning sex and sexuality. Bob Felton at Civil Commotion likewise often posts about the hypocrisy of the fundamentalists - under the caption "Busted" -who ought to spend more time addressing their own sins and less time denigrating and maligning law abiding LGBT Americans. In the case of Dr. Bowman pictured at left and arrested for child pornography, he's a "conservative" Anglican who opposes gay clergy. Here's a sampling of Joe's winners for the past week:

*

North Carolina: Pastor Joseph Kennedy Ragland arrested for rape of a minor.

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Canada: Rev. David Woodall charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

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California: Pastor Robert Bowman arrested for possession of child pornography. Bonus: Bowman is the headmaster of a Christian grade school.

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North Carolina: Pastor Raymond Bernard Reid charged with rape, indecent sexual liberties with a child.

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Australia: Father Canon Barry Greaves sentenced to three years for seven counts of child molestation. Bonus: He was the church's counselor for victims of sexual assault.

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Missouri: Pastor Randall Russell sentenced to 15 year for molesting four girls.

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New York: Father Richard Ordoñez charged with sexual assault.

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Tennessee: Pastor Steven C. Haney pleads guilty to two counts of rape and sexual battery.

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North Carolina: Pastor Dana Davis owes over $130K in child support for seven children fathered across two states. Bonus: He runs a fraudulent credit repair scam.

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Alabama: Pastor Kenneth Dyar Wood charged with rape of 11 year-old girl.

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One has to wonder why people continue to mindlessly follow denominations that are largely defined by those they denigrate as opposed preaching a Christian message of love of God and love of neighbor.

Another "Family Values" GOP Sex Pervert

The news coverage of sexual misadventures by politicians has been slower that usual given the high focus on the ongoing political campaigns. But never fear, a Republican from New York State has been arrested in a hotel sting for child-pornography and soliciting charges. True, a Florida Congressman has been recently exposed for improprieties with a woman, but unlike the family values GOP members he at least was not looking for sex with a minor. Not surprisingly, Ortloff was known for "being tough on crime and increasing increase the criminal penalties for all kinds of sex crimes." I feel sorry for Ortloff's family. Here are some highlights from the New York Post:

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Chris Ortloff, 61, was arrested in a Plattsburgh-area motel room in a State Police sting at about 5 p.m. Ortloff, who allegedly had arranged a date on the Internet with an underage victim he thought would provide sex, had child porn and what was described as "sex paraphernalia" in his possession, according to the officials.

8
They said Ortloff, a Republican who represented Plattsburgh, would likely face felony sex charges under state law, and could also be charged with violating federal anti-child pornography statutes. Ortloff, married with two sons, could not be reached for comment.

*
"He was always the tough-on-crime guy in the Assembly who wanted to increase the criminal penalties for all kinds of sex crimes," said a former associate.

Child Porn Found on 20,000 Computers in Virginia

This article from the Fairfax Times (http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/news/2008/feb/26/child-porn-found-20000-computers-virginia/) is a bit frightening for several reasons. The first is the fact that there are probably at least 20,000 pedophiles in Virginia who may at some point act on their sick urges (when my children were younger, I always thought I'd kill any adult who ever molested my kids). The second is that given the lawless regime of the Chimperator when it comes to spying on citizens, who is to say that evidence could not be planted on a computer of those deemed "enemies." If the authorities can secretly download information from a computer, it would seem just as easy to place illegal materials on one. Perhaps Virginia's legislators should spend less time pushing an anti-gay agenda and more time going after child molesters. On a different note, however, I'd love to know how many of these computers belong to straight married men who go to anti-gay churches and/or who are Republicans and/or are Baptist clergymen. Here are some highlights:

Using a national online system that enables them to remotely download incriminating images directly from a suspect's computer, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force have identified nearly 20,000 computer hard drives in Virginia that they say contain hardcore child pornography. Virginia Del. Brian Moran (D-Alexandria) reported last week that the Town of Herndon ranked number four in overall Virginia localities behind only Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Richmond in the number of computers known to possess child pornography statewide.

Jesse Ferguson, legislative aide for Moran, said that by using the nationwide software system, child pornography can easily be downloaded from the computer hard drives of individuals who utilize peer-to-peer file-sharing networks such as Napster or Limewire. Investigators initiate downloads and then identify Internet protocol (IP) addresses. Law enforcement officials can then obtain physical addresses from Internet service providers.

When all the evidence has been collected and reviewed, and a physical address has been identified, local authorities can then decide to apply for a search warrant to search the property in question and seize the offending computer. "Approximately 30 percent of people who possess child pornography also victimize children," said Moran's office, citing a statistic from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Former Law Enforcement Officer, Juvenile Counselor, and Minister at Nazarene Church Arrested for Molesting Boys and Child Porn

Is it just me, or does it seem like the flood gates on Christianist hypocrisy have broken wide open. Between the exposes of GOP pedophiles, GOP closet gays, and the surge in ministers and pastors who are being exposed for gay sex and/or sex with minors, it is becoming nearly a daily event for some Republican or "godly" preacher to be resigning or being arrested. This story from the Springfield, Missouri, State Journal and Register (http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/17908.asp) is but one of the latest scandals. Here are story highlights:

Newspaper and court records researched Wednesday, along with interviews of concerned parents and business owners, indicate that, during a period of more than 30 years, Carlock almost always could be found working or volunteering in some way with children. The 57-year-old Carlock, . . . . was charged in federal court Tuesday with possessing child pornography and traveling to engage in sexual conduct with a minor.

When hired as a Springfield police officer in 1973, Carlock, a north-end native, said he previously had been employed by the state of Illinois at DuPage Boys School in Naperville. For four of his years as a Springfield officer, he served as a youth division detective. He was a minister at the Rosewood Heights Nazarene Church in East Alton, where a former church member said Carlock and his wife at the time would invite over children to watch movies and eat popcorn.

Carlock worked for four years for the Illinois Department of Public Health's Child Health Division. He served as the Grandview Police Department's certified juvenile officer. He volunteered with Big Brother Big Sister for a short time. He and his most recent wife performed as the clowns "Klutzo" and "Smilee" for more than 10 years, entertaining at children's events and school programs. He was a marriage and family counselor, too.

As Carlock was being released from a psychiatric facility Tuesday, federal authorities arrested him on charges that he went to the Philippines to photograph naked boys and that he had sexually abused three boys there. Immigration and homeland security officials allegedly found pornographic photos on his digital camera and laptop computer as he returned to the United States in June. Last month, though, Filipino authorities interviewed some of the boys in the pictures, and three said they had awakened to find Carlock fondling them in their sleep, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

You could not make this stuff up if you tried. Sadly, I wonder how many other kids this guy may have abused over a 30 year period. More details on the investigation can be found here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1010071clown1.html