CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Law Blog by Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Mr. Billy Sinclair

September 23, 2009

COURT TAKES HARDLINE STAND IN CHILD EXPLOITATION CASE

Filed under: Child Abuse Crimes Lawyer — Tags: , , , , — johntfloyd @ 9:53 am

Video Taped Consensual Sex with Minor Gets Federal Time

By:  Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

The federal statute that governs the production of child pornography provides, in part, that “any person who employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in . . . any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct or for the purpose of transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct, shall be punished as provided under subsection (e) . . . if that visual depiction was produced or transmitted using materials that have been mailed, shipped, or transported in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means . . . .” 1/

Most people think of the production of child pornography as child molesters collecting large quantities of the material for their own perverse use or as “smut peddlers” producing the material for profit on the black market. But the statute has the ability to reach into an individual’s bedroom and ensnare him in a web of serious legal consequences if he has consensual sex with a minor and records the event on a video camera.

That is what happened to 28-year-old Rubio Gadea Pliego in September 2006 when he invited four young males, including a 14-year-old, to his Minneapolis apartment for a party. 2/ During the course of the party, Pleigo performed consensual, although illegal, oral sex on the 14-year-old minor. Two days later Pliego called the minor and invited him, as well as the other young men, back over to his apartment for yet another party. This time, however, Pliego had secretly set up a video camera in his bedroom to record some of the party’s activities.

The camera recorded the three of the young men, including the minor, entering Pliego’s bedroom where they voluntarily watched porno movies. At some point the other two young men left the room leaving the minor alone with Pliego in the bedroom. The hidden camera then recorded the two engaged in a series of consensual sexual activities. (more…)

July 29, 2009

A GOOD FAMILY DOCTOR OR A SECRET PEDOPHILE?

Filed under: Child Abuse Crimes Lawyer — Tags: , , , , — johntfloyd @ 12:09 pm

Child Pornography and Exploitation

By: Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Neighbors say the couple that lived in the $1 million home in the 11100 block of South Country Squire Road were “the sweetest on the block” who brought cakes to the new home owners that moved into the exclusive neighborhood. The 69-year-old orthopedic surgeon who lived at the residence was considered the “ideal grandfather figure.” He reportedly bought expensive gifts, including rent-free houses, for the economically deprived parents of several of his youngest child patients. Over a two-decade period he spent as much as $250,000 on these gifts.

But, according to police and Harris County Assistant District Attorney Eric Devlin, the doctor was a secret pedophile who began molesting some of his male child patients as young as four years of age and continued the molestation into the patients’ teen years. Following a two-year investigation by the Houston Metro Internet Task Force that began when a former abused patient, now an adult, came forward and reported the abuse to the police, the doctor was arrested on July 21, 2009 for sexually abusing four former patients when they were young boys.

The arresting authorities told the local media that The doctor was the “smartest, most obsessed” pedophile they had ever encountered. They pointed to two police vans of evidence, including videotapes of the sexual abuse, seized from his office and residence to support this claim. The Houston Chronicle reported that some of the evidence seized included “dozens of binders” of photos of children and news stories about “kidnapping and child brutality.”

“All the time he spent cutting out pictures of little kids, articles about rapes, murders, and brutal deaths and information that would help him ingratiate himself with his victims and any future victims,” Houston juvenile investigator J.R. Roscoe told the Chronicle, “that’s a lot of research. He was very friendly, very kind, a sweet old man. He would be the ideal grandfather, for the role he played.” (more…)

April 11, 2009

CHILD PORN: AN INCREASING PROBLEM IN ALL SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY

Filed under: Child Abuse Crimes Lawyer, Sexual Assault Crime Attorney — Tags: , , , , — johntfloyd @ 12:00 pm

Federally Funded Task Forces Make Online Crimes Against Children Top Priority

By: Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

There has been a recent rash of media reports about local residents getting arrested or sentenced for possession of child pornography. For example, on March 13, 2009, the Houston Chronicle carried a report about a Houston attorney being given a six and one-half year sentence by U.S. District Court Judge Sim Lake. Williamson possessed 84 child pornography images on his computer. After he completes his prison sentence, the suspended attorney will be under “supervised release” for the rest of his life, must register as a sex offender, and attend a sex offender treatment program.

The following day the Chronicle carried a story about a 24-year-old Somerset, Kentucky man being charged with promotion of child pornography, online solicitation of a minor and sexual performance of a child. He was indicted for persuading an 11-year-old Humble girl to send him nude photographs of herself while the two played video games online with their PlayStation 3 consoles last December.

“This is another venue these guys are getting to use now that hasn’t been seen before,” Sgt. Gary Spurger, a Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constable, told the Chronicle. “They’re on PlayStation or Xbox playing online games.”

A March 19, 2009 Chronicle article featured the arrest of a former member of Bikers Against Child Abuse, a child abuse prevention organization. He was also arrested for possession of child pornography. And that same day the Chronicle carried yet another story about the federal child pornography indictment of a convicted sex offender already serving time in a state prison for a 1996 possession of child pornography conviction. This man had been given a state probation but had it revoked after he failed to register as a sex offender. The current federal indictment charged Hale with possessing child pornography while he was on state probation. (more…)

April 8, 2009

WHAT IS SEXTING?

Filed under: Child Abuse Crimes Lawyer — Tags: , , , — johntfloyd @ 1:46 pm

Sexting Among Children; Criminal Behavior or Brash Sign of the Times

By: Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

First, and foremost, “sexting” among teenagers can be a crime. Second, it’s stupid, sophomoric behavior that can quickly ruin reputations, destroy employment opportunities, and cost a lot of money to deal with its legal consequences.

“Sexting” is a term, according to Urban Dictionary, created by the media which refers to the sending or posting of sexually suggestive text and images in cyberspace. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com recently released the results from the first study ever conducted concerning the relationship between sex and cyberspace.

The study, Sex and Tech: Results From a Survey of Teens and Young Adults, produced some disturbing findings. For example, it found that a “significant number of teens (age 13 thru 19) have electronically sent, or posted online, nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves.” One in five of the 653 teens surveyed engaged in this risky behavior with 22% of the surveyed girls having engaged in sexting and 18% of the boys having done so.

This group of teens are even more heavily involved in sending sexually suggestive messages. 39% sent or posted sexually suggestive messages: 37% of the girls and 40% of the boys. 48% of the teens said they had received such messages. (more…)

February 7, 2009

OBSCENE EMAILS AND CARTOONS NOT PROTECTED BY FIRST AMENDMENT

Filed under: Child Abuse Crimes Lawyer — Tags: , , , , , — johntfloyd @ 3:25 pm

Obscene Drawings, Cartoons, Sculpture, Paintings that Depict Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct Not Protected Free Speech

By: Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

On March 30, 2004, Dwight Whorley visited a public resource room maintained by the Virginia Employment Commission in Richmond. The room is equipped with Commission computers, printers and copiers which may be used by job seekers. A woman in the room noticed that Whorley was receiving what appeared to her as child pornography on a Commission computer. She promptly alerted Commission staff about suspicions. An officer manager and two supervisors went to the resource room where they found Whorley standing in front of a printer with some papers in his hand. One of the supervisors requested that Whorley show him the documents. Whorley complied. The documents depicted Japanese anime-style cartoons of children engaged in explicit sexual conduct with adults.

The office manager made a determination that Whorley had inappropriately used the Commission’s computer, restricted him from further use of the computer, and escorted him from the premises. The manager then returned to the computer Whorley had been using and found his Yahoo e-mail account was still open. Commission employees discovered several more copies of the sexually explicit anime-style cartoons by the computer. After printing off several of Whorley’s e-mails and removing the computer from service, the Commission office manager notified his supervisor and state police about the incident.

A subsequent law enforcement investigation determined that Whorley was already on a federal probation for a 1999 conviction for downloading child pornography on a Virginia Commonwealth University computer at the time of the Commission incident. The local U.S. Attorney’s Office presented to a grand jury the cartoons copied by Whorley at the Commission room, the data in the computer he used in the room, and information received from Yahoo about his e-mail account. Based on this evidence, the grand jury returned a 75-count indictment against Whorley alleging:

Counts 1-20 charged that on March 30, 2004 Whorley knowingly received obscene cartoons in interstate and foreign commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1462. These counts were based on 20 cartoons depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit acts (including masturbation, intercourse, and oral sex) with adults, some of which were coerced. (more…)

November 4, 2008

PROSECUTORIAL OVERCHARGING

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — johntfloyd @ 6:38 pm

Multiple Counts, Lesser-Included Offenses and Double Jeopardy

By Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

One of the quiet abuses in the nation’s criminal justice system is prosecutors overcharging criminal defendants. In their zeal to prosecute and convict, prosecutors file multiple counts against a defendant in a single indictment involving the same criminal conduct knowing – or least possessing the duty to know – that two convictions based on the same conduct will almost always be reversed on appeal.  Criminal defense lawyers argue that many prosecutors charge multiple counts against a defendant in an attempt to prejudice a defendant, insinuating that the defendant must have done something to justify the multiple counts.  There were two recent examples of this prosecutorial abuse – one involving a Texas case and the other involving a federal case in California.

Jared Daniel Littrell was charged in a multi-count indictment in Potter County, Texas, with felony murder and aggravated robbery. The charges stemmed from a criminal scheme by Littrell and a prostitute to rob a former client of the prostitute. Littrell and the prostitute entered the client’s hotel room where a struggle ensued during which the client was shot and killed. See: Littrell v. State, 2008 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1306 (Tex. Crim. App. Oct. 15, 2008).

The trial judge charged the jury with an instruction that it could convict the Littrell on both counts. The jury did just that, and assessed Littrell’s punishment at 30 years on the felony murder and 25 years on the aggravated robbery conviction. Littrell appealed his convictions contending that the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition against double jeopardy had been violated by his punishment for offenses based on the same conduct. The Amarillo Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that because the murder and aggravated robbery each contained an element the other does not, double jeopardy did not attach. See: Littrell v. State, 2007 Tex.App. 5988 (Tex.App.-Amarillo July 25, 2007). The Court said:

”To prove aggravated robbery as alleged in the indictment, the State had to prove, among other things, the commission of theft coupled with aggravating circumstances; such was not required to prove . . . murder . . . . To prove murder, the State had to establish that an act of appellant caused [the complainant]’s death; that element is missing in . . . aggravated assault [sic] . . . . So, the test espoused in Cervantes [v. State, 815 S.W.2d 569, 571-75 (Tex.Crim.App. 1991)] was met and no problems with double jeopardy arose.” Id. LEXIS at 6. (more…)

« Newer Posts

Powered by WordPress © 2010 John T. Floyd III Crimnal Defense Attorney : Webmaster Kevin Grey Lee