Child Pornography

Holding that "the law is designed to protect children until they are adults," a federal judge Thursday convicted Van Nuys video distributor Rubin Gottesman of three child pornography charges stemming from the distribution of a trio of films in which teen-age porn queen Traci Lords appeared. U.S. District Judge David Kenyon rejected arguments that the federal child pornography statute is unconstitutional because it permits criminal convictions even in cases involving actresses, like Lords, who have acted in dozens of X-rated films and who persuade producers and distributors throughout the industry that they are older than their years.

A former Eagle Scout who became a Boy Scout leader faces child pornography charges on Long Island, N.Y., officials said. Edward Orenchuk III of Garden City, has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies for possessing images of child pornography and making those images available to others via the Internet, Nassau County Dist. Atty. Kathleen Rice announced . Orenchuk was arrested and arraigned Wednesday, officials said. He is being held on $400,000 bond or $100,000 cash.

Calling the case a "classic glimpse into the shadowy world of pedophilia," Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn filed charges Thursday against a man who allegedly mailed child pornography to an undercover police officer posing as a child molester. Dennis M. Trembly, 41, a professional musician who lives downtown, was charged with a single misdemeanor count of exhibiting to an adult matter depicting a person under age 17 engaging in sexual conduct. Trembly is scheduled to be arraigned July 13. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to a year in County Jail and fined $2,000.

A nine-year veteran of the Long Beach Police Department has been arrested on suspicion of felony possession of child pornography after reportedly meeting a teenager while on patrol and soliciting explicit photographs of the youth through electronic messages, police said. Noe Yanez, 40, was taken into custody Thursday evening by Long Beach police after an investigation that began earlier this month. The alleged victim had told a school resources officer about the messages and authorities were alerted.

Comcast Corp. said it expected to sign a code of conduct aimed at blocking child pornography on the Internet after receiving a warning letter from New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo told Comcast in a letter that he planned to take legal action within five days and said he was concerned that the company wasn't taking "every necessary action to eliminate child porn from the Internet." Comcast said in a statement that it joined with other cable operators and 48 state attorneys general to sign a separate agreement on child-pornography prevention last week and that it anticipated it would sign Cuomo's code of conduct as well.

A former middle school teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to possession of child pornography. Jay Kylee Bain, 37, who taught at La Presa Middle School in Spring Valley, had more than 600 pornographic images of children on his computer, prosecutors said. He was fired after sending a naked picture of himself to a seventh-grade female student. Bain faces five to 10 years in prison.

Wade Sanders, a decorated Vietnam veteran and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Navy in the Clinton administration, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to possession of child pornography. Sanders, 67, of San Diego, had more than 600 images of child pornography on his computer, including a 21-minute video showing "pre-pubescent females" having sexual contact with an adult male, the U.S. attorney's office said Sanders, a lawyer, is a retired Navy captain who received the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart for service as a swift-boat captain in the Vietnam War. He faces a possible 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine when sentenced March 30. Under a plea bargain, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a prison sentence of five to six years.

A veteran Los Angeles Police Department officer has been charged with possessing pornographic images of children. John Deegan, 54, a patrol officer assigned to the LAPD's Central Division, was charged by a federal grand jury with two counts of possession of child pornography, according to a copy of an indictment filed in U.S. District Court. The indictment also includes two charges of possession of child pornography against Deegan's 25-year-old son, Jonathon. Both turned themselves in to authorities Oct. 5, when they were formally arrested and charged, law enforcement officials said.

A former Roman Catholic priest described by neighbors as a "perfect gentleman" is one of two men being sought in connection with a ring that allegedly made pornographic videotapes of young boys in Mexico and Southern California and distributed them worldwide, Los Angeles police said Tuesday. John Bauer, 52, was said by officers to have preyed on juveniles in Hollywood in recent years and to have owned porn shops in the Pacific Northwest. Bauer, the alleged ringleader, is believed to have fled the country after slipping through police hands several months ago. Also being sought--and also thought to have fled the country--is Victor Feliciano, 29, a Rosemead handyman.

Mark Fritz and Solomon Moore write in the article "Child Porn Raids Lead to Suicide" (Oct. 23) that suicide victim [Kenneth] Nighbert's attorney, Rick Berne, believes his client is "facing too harsh a penalty." The article feels slanted. Somehow The Times authors would like us to feel sorry for these poor, pitiful cyber users that commit suicide for being caught with kiddy porn. Somehow this article leads us to think it might be really unfair that their homes can be taken from them as part of the punishment.

The FBI arrested a San Bernardino middle school teacher Tuesday on suspicion of child pornography for allegedly exchanging sexually explicit photographs with a 13-year-old girl in New Jersey. Eugene Ballantyne, 29, was taken into custody at his Running Springs home early Tuesday morning. Ballantyne told investigators that he also received sexually explicit pictures from a 15-year-old girl two years earlier and traveled 180 miles to have sex with a 17-year-old girl in July, according to a FBI affidavit filed in federal court.

In his private journal, Jason Michael Handy once described himself as a "pedophile, full blown. " Handy snapped more than 1,000 photos of girls at the elementary school across the street from his house, using a camera with a telephoto lens, according to court documents. He volunteered at a Malibu church, where he worked with 6-year-olds. And his job as a production assistant at one of the nation's most prominent producers of children's television programs, Nickelodeon, gave him access to child actors on and off the set, and allowed him to exchange email addresses and phone numbers with them.

A pastor and youth soccer coach has pleaded not guilty to charges that he molested an 8-year-old Huntington Beach girl and possessed child pornography. Christopher Raymond Olague, 39, of Westminster was arrested by Huntington Beach police in October after the mother of the girl reported the alleged molestation. Olague allegedly picked up the girl Oct. 5 for a play date at a park with one of his daughters. Instead, he took her to the parking lot of a grocery store and molested her, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Russell Reinhart said.

The Justice Department has charged 72 suspected members of an online child pornography ring that encouraged its members to engage in sexual acts with children 12 and under and submit gruesome, violent material to build a massive private database of images and videos on the Internet. The crackdown is the result of a joint effort by the departments of Justice and Homeland Security launched in December 2009 to target about 500 people in 13 countries on five continents for their suspected participation in "Dreamboard," a members-only online bulletin board that was created to encourage the sharing of graphic images and videos.

A 31-year-old El Monte man who molested a 5-year-old girl and took pictures of his attacks was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography. Christian Hernandez was arrested in 2009 after he disclosed on his application to become a California Highway Patrol officer that he viewed child pornography on the Internet. CHP officials launched an investigation, searching Hernandez's home, where they found "an extensive collection of child pornography depicting minors being raped by adult men" on his computer, according to briefs filed by prosecutors.

Stuffed animals, teen magazines and children's underwear were found in a raid of a Wilmington motel that was home to dozens of convicted child molesters and registered sex offenders, authorities said Monday. Eight people were taken into custody Friday for alleged parole violations, including possession of child pornography or narcotics. Most of those arrested were middle-aged men whose previous offenses included lewd and lascivious conduct with children or other sex crimes, said Det. Patricia Batts of the Los Angeles Police Department.

A 44-year-old Sun Valley man was arrested Friday for allegedly downloading child pornography via the Internet. David Luera, who is currently in custody in lieu of $30,000 bail at the LAPD's Sexually Exploited Child Unit, could face up to six years in prison if convicted. It is the second time Luera has been arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography videos and still photographs.

Memories might last a lifetime, but officials at one high school want to make sure some don't. Students at Big Bear High School have been ordered to return their 2011 yearbooks after a photograph depicting a male student with his hand underneath a female student's clothing at a school dance somehow managed to be published, officials said Thursday. The students appear in the background of the photo and "are not the intended focus of the photograph," said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Friday Tracy Morgan, the "30 Rock" star who plays loud-mouthed loose cannon Tracy Jordan, comes under fire for a homophobic rant during a recent stand-up gig. ( Huffington Post ) J.J. Abrams' thriller "Super 8" hits theaters, and our experts are expecting its super-domination of "X-Men" and "Judy Moody" at the weekend box office. ( Los Angeles Times ) Alec Baldwin gets support for New York mayoral run from Chevy Chase, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner?