Child Pornography

An increasing sensitivity to the suffering of animals has been reflected both in public attitudes and in the law. Michael Vick's involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring provoked appropriate public outrage and resulted in a 19-month prison stay for the football star. Movie credits assure the audience that "no animals were harmed in the making of this film." Greater protection for animals is an important objective, but, as with other desirable goals, it can be pursued overzealously and at the cost of constitutional rights.

A tip from an online service company has led to charges of possession and distribution of child pornography against a volunteer Los Angeles Boy Scout district commissioner. Gerald Frederick Curland, 63, of Valley Village is scheduled to be arraigned today in Los Angeles County Superior Court on the separate felony charges, according to the district attorney's office. Curland was arrested Tuesday by sheriff's Special Victims Unit investigators. Bail was set at $40,000, said prosecutor Marc Beaart of the district attorney's High Tech Crimes Division.

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.

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 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.

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 woman convicted of repeatedly molesting her 4-year-old niece with her husband was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison, bringing an end to a case that unfolded after authorities discovered a trunk full of homemade child porn movies in the couple's Orange County home. Sheila Sikat, 28, was found guilty in December of 55 molestation charges and took responsibility during a hearing last month, saying she deserved to go to prison because she failed to protect her niece.

A band teacher at Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles was charged Thursday with possessing child pornography on his personal laptop computer, authorities said. Lief Arnesen Albaugh was arrested Wednesday evening by detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department's juvenile division. The 27-year-old Los Angeles man posted $20,000 bail and was released at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department inmate website.

Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable have agreed to block access to child pornography and eliminate the material from their Internet servers, New York's attorney general said Tuesday. The companies also will pay $1.1 million to help fund efforts to remove the online child porn created and disseminated by users through their services, Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo said. The changes will affect customers nationwide.

A Cook County jury Friday acquitted R&B superstar R. Kelly of child pornography charges, ending a high-profile case that began more than six years ago. Jurors said they put little stock in the prosecution's star witness, a woman who claimed she participated in videotaped sex acts with Kelly and a person the government alleged was Kelly's then-underage goddaughter.