Boston Sexual Abuse Lawyer Blog

David Ettlinger, a former Newton teacher and Brighton resident facing a slew of child pornography charges in two Massachusetts counties was released on his personal recognizance at Suffolk Superior Court April 3, according to Wicked Local Newton and WCVB. The move allows the court to transport Ettlinger to Louisiana, where he faces federal charges for participating in an online child pornography forum.

Ettlinger, 34, was scheduled to appear at Moakley Courthouse in Boston Tuesday afternoon and then to be taken to Louisiana, where he faces charged for his alleged membership in Dreamboard, an international forum that promoted sexual abuse of children.

Ettlinger was arrested at his Commonwealth Avenue home in January following an investigation, and charged with two counts of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors said they found hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer.

Ettlinger was later additionally charged with indecent assault on a person under 14 and posing a child in the nude.

Prosecutors said the victim was a family friend he was babysitting.

Ettinger was indicted in Middlesex Superior Court in February for charges of five counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, posing a child in a state of nudity, posing a child in sexual conduct, possession of child pornography, and secretly recording a partially nude person.

He was arraigned Feb. 8 and ordered held on $50,000 cash bail.

Wicked Local Newton reports that later that month, prosecutors discovered inappropriate photos of Ettlinger's former students at Underwood Elementary School in Newton. The photos were taken secretly but were not pornographic, and therefore not criminal.

Ettlinger was arraigned at Suffolk Superior Court on March 1 on additional charges. Prosecutors said on two unrelated occasions in 2009, he undressed and taped himself fondling two teenage girls as they slept.

He is schedulted to go on trial at Suffolk Superior Court in Dec. 2012. He will go on trial at Middlesex Superior Court in February 2013.

The Diocese of Worcester has asked the Vatican to defrock the Rev. Lowe B. Dongor, the Roman Catholic priest charged in September with possessing child pornography and stealing from his parish in Fitchburg, reports the Telegram and Gazette.

Church and law enforcement officials believe Rev. Dongor has fled the country and may have returned to his native homeland of the Philippines. A default warrant was issued for Rev. Dongor after the clergyman failed to show up for an Oct. 25, 2011 court hearing.

Chancery officials said they are seeking to oust Rev. Dongor in the wake of a "clarification" last spring by church officials in Rome that possession of child pornography is grounds for removal from the priesthood.

In May, the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith declared that "the acquisition, possession, and distribution of child pornography is a canonical delict that pertains to the sexual abuse of a minor."

State police have charged that one of Rev. Dongor's laptops contained images of girls around the ages of 10 and 11 in various states of undress. The priest also allegedly admitted to investigators that, on a number of occasions, he stole "$40 or $50" from St. Joseph Parish to send to his family in the Philippines, reports the Telegram and Gazette

Rev. Dongor is on administrative leave of absence and was relieved, in July, of his duties as associate pastor at St. Joseph's by Bishop Robert J. McManus.

Raymond L. Delisle, a spokesman for the diocese, said that Bishop McManus has asked Pope Benedict XVI to defrock Rev. Dongor in light of the pornography allegations.

Bishop McManus had written the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines warning that the priest may have returned home to the Southeast Asian islands nation.

In a letter to the Filipino prelates, the bishop said that Rev. Dongor left a note saying that he would be returning "home."

In November, the Philippine-based abs-cbnNEWS.com reported that the priest returned to his hometown of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, in October.

The website said that relatives, including Rev. Dongor's brother, Joey, were surprised by the visit.

Family members said they hadn't seen the priest in years and said they were shocked by the charges.

Timothy Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., said local authorities would move to extradite Rev. Dongor back to Massachusetts, if he is located, reports the Telegram and Gazette.

At this point, he said the DA's office has no solid information on Rev. Dongor's whereabouts.

"Once he's found, the wheels will be put in motion to bring him back," Mr. Connolly said.

Rev. Dongor, 35, was summoned to Fitchburg District Court on Sept. 9 on charges of larceny of property worth more than $250, larceny from a building and possession of child pornography.

He was released on personal recognizance.

A Superior Court judge has denied a request for lower bail by a University of Utah professor who allegedly watched child pornography on his laptop on a flight to Boston last weekend, according to the Boston Globe.

Grant D. Smith, 47, of Cottonwood Heights was arrested last Saturday at Logan International Airport after a fellow passenger on the flight from Salt Lake City allegedly spotted what he was viewing. Smith was arraigned in East Boston District Court on Monday.

Smith's attorney asked Judge Carol Ball to reduce his $75,000 cash bail under a statute that allows a defendant in district court to petition a superior court judge for bail reduction.

Ball denied Smith's petition without prejudice, meaning he can seek review at a later date.

"Based on the facts of the case, additional charges are probable and in fact quite likely," said Assistant Suffolk District Attorney David Deakin.

Deakin added Smith's bail was necessary to ensure his appearance at future court dates.

"He has no ties to the Commonwealth," he said. "His ties to Utah appear to be weakening by the day ... It appears he has as many ties to Korea and Malaysia as he does to Massachusetts."

Smith told officers he traded images of teens online. Police recovered from his computer images of children as young as 5 years old in sexual contact with men, prosecutors said.

Smith was arrested for possession of child pornography, which is punishable by up to five years in state prison. A person convicted of that offense must also register as a sex offender.

Smith is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 27.

Thomas Scully, a Beverly Public Library employee who pled guilty to child pornography possession in 2009, is entitled to have his retirement allowance reinstated, a three-judge Appeals Court panel has ruled, overturning the judgment of lower courts on the grounds that his crimes were not directly related to his job, as reported by the State House News Service.

"While Scully's conduct was reprehensible, in view of the narrow interpretation that consistently has been given to [state pension law] we are constrained to conclude that the mandatory forfeiture of Scully's pension was not legally tenable," according to the unanimous ruling, penned by Judge Ariane Vuono.

Vuono argued that the judges were required to interpret state law narrowly based on prior rulings. "Moreover, despite this consistent interpretation, the Legislature has not modified the statute," she wrote.

The ruling reinstates the pension of Scully, the Beverly library's former director of community service. Scully, who began working at the library in 1986, resigned in 2005 after police raided his home and discovered seven images of child pornography on his computer.

The discovery came during an investigation into allegations that Scully had an inappropriate relationship with a library patron who was 15 years old at the time.

Prosecutors alleged that Scully met the boy at the library and invited him to his home, where he regularly allowed him to view pornography.

The State House News Services reports that prosecutors charged Scully with possession of child pornography, distributing obscene material to a minor and indecent assault and battery. However, the assault charge was dropped and Scully struck a plea deal in which he admitted only to possession of child pornography.

After he resigned from the library, Scully applied for a retirement allowance, which he was granted. But after his conviction in 2009, the Beverly Retirement Board voted 3-2 to revoke his pension on the grounds that his crimes involved his relationship with a minor who he met at the library. The decision was later affirmed by the District Court and the Superior Court.

But the Appeals Court, in its ruling, argued that the lower courts misapplied state pension law, which requires forfeiture of a retiree's pension after a conviction on a criminal offense "involving violation of the laws applicable to his office or position."

Continue reading "Beverly Employee Caught With Porn Gets Pension Reinstated" »

A Western, MA man has pled guilty to child pornography charges, specifically to child exploitation. The story can be found here.

I thought this story from Bakersfield, CA was incredible. Great police and investigative work. Kudos.

Two Massachusetts men have been arrested and charged in connection with a global online child pornography ring that encouraged users to upload graphic sexual assaults of victims aged 12 and under, officials told the Boston Globe.

Rush Frank Blankenship of Westfield is scheduled to plead guilty to federal child pornography charges in September in Louisiana, and David Michael Whitten of Lynn pleaded guilty to a related charge in that state in June, court records show.

According to the Department of Justice, the men are two of the 72 defendants charged in the United States and abroad who were members of the website Dreamboard, which authorities began investigating in 2009.

Members uploaded images of young children being abused to gain access to the site, authorities said, and they had to continue posting new content to maintain membership. Users were grouped into tiers based in part on how often they provided content and whether they personally produced the images, according to the Justice Department, and posting violent assaults of children was encouraged.

Users in higher tiers could access more content, authorities said.

Whitten will be sentenced in October and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, records show. He posted three visual files to Dreamboard over two days in November 2009, including one involving an 8-year-old girl.

Details of Blankenship's indictment and plea agreement were not available yesterday.

Of the 72 defendants, 13 have pleaded guilty and 20 remain at large, according to the Department of Justice.

Suspects have been arrested in 13 other countries including Canada, Kenya, Serbia, and Switzerland, authorities said, and more than 500 users have been targeted.

The Justice Department said the investigation, dubbed Operation Delego, has resulted in the largest prosecution in the United States of users accessing an online bulletin board created for the sole purpose of promoting child sexual abuse.

George H. Lunt, 27, of Plymouth, Mass, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release for his transportation and possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz for the District of Massachusetts and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Office.

Lunt was sentenced by United States District Judge George A. O'Toole Jr in Boston.

On March 15, 2011, Lunt pleaded guilty to two counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. In pleading guilty, Lunt admitted to possessing thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse, including depictions of prepubescent children and toddlers and sadistic conduct. Lunt admitted to distributing graphic depictions of child sexual abuse through online peer-to-peer file-sharing software.

The case arose from an FBI investigation of individuals sharing and trading child pornography over the Internet. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, see www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

A Massachusetts man whose case led to the discovery of a massive child sex abuse case in the Netherlands has been charged with distributing child pornography, according to court documents.

Robert Diduca, 47, was a member of an online forum for those with a sexual interest in children. He came to the attention of law enforcement last year when he sent a pornographic image of a child via e-mail to investigators of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who alerted Massachusetts State Police.

Diduca was arrested at his home in Milford, a town in Worcester County of Massachusetts, in early November 2010. During a search of his computer storage devices, investigators discovered some 10,000 images and videos of young children engaged in sexual acts.

One of the images recovered from Diduca's computer showed a two-year-old boy whose diaper had been opened to expose his genitalia, and one video showed an adult man sexually abusing a two-year-old boy. Investigators determined that the photos and videos did not appear to have been made in the United States and shared an edited image on Interpol's secure system for international law enforcement officials in order to help identify the victim.

As a result, Dutch police soon recognized the material was of Dutch origin and requested additional photos to help in the investigation. An edited photo of the victim was eventually shown on Dutch television on December 7 after which someone recognized the child and called police.

Hours later, police in the Netherlands arrested 27-year-old Robert Mikelsons who confessed to sexually abusing dozens of young children while being employed at two Amsterdam nurseries between February 2007 and January 2010. He also offered his services through several websites. Mikelsons is believed to have abused at least 85 young children.

Diduca, who remains in custody, previously pled not guilty to similar charges. If found guilty, he faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, followed by up to lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Douglas L. Wright, 41, of North Chelmsford, Mass ., was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for transportation and possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Carmen M. Ortiz, and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Office.

Wright was sentenced this week by United States District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in Boston. On February 17, 2011, Wright pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. In pleading guilty, Wright admitted to using an online, peer-to-peer file sharing program to transmit computer files containing visual depictions of prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Wright, a former middle school teacher, also admitted to being interested in child pornography for several years.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

William F. Murphy, 51, of West Roxbury, Mass., has been sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for a child pornography offense, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Field Office.

Murphy was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf in the District of Massachusetts.

On Aug. 13, 2010, Murphy pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly accessing child pornography with intent to view. This case arose from an FBI investigation of Murphy's use of online peer-to-peer software to access and view visual depictions of minor females engaging in sexually explicit conduct. These images included depictions of prepubescent girls, and sadistic and masochistic conduct.

The discovery of a collection of child pornography in Massachusetts last month led investigators to a 27-year-old Dutch man who has since confessed to sexually abusing dozens of young children while working at nurseries and through nanny services he offered online.

Authorities in the Netherlands have released details about the child sex abuse case, announcing the arrest of Roberts Mikelsons, 27, who had been employed at two Amsterdam nurseries between February 2007 and January 2010. He also offered his services through several websites.

U.S. authorities have released the first details about what led to the arrest of Mikelsons, who was born in Latvia, last Tuesday in Amsterdam. It followed weeks of intense cooperation between U.S. law enforcement agencies and eventually spread to the Netherlands earlier this month.

In early November, Massachusetts State Police arrested a 46-year-old man from the town of Milford after receiving a tip from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). During a search of his computer storage devices, some 10,000 images and videos of young children engaged in sexual acts were discovered.

The suspect in the United States was identified as Robert Didua, who has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of dissemination of child pornography.

Investigators determined that the photos and videos did not appear to have been made in the United States and shared an edited image on Interpol's secure system for international law enforcement officials in order to help identify the victim. As a result, Dutch police recognized it was of Dutch origin and received additional photos to help in the investigation.

On December 7, a picture of the boy being abused was shown on Dutch television by a local crime stopper program. This immediately led to a call from someone who recognized the child and, within hours, Mikelsons was arrested and eventually confessed to more crimes.

"The cooperation in the investigation is tremendous," said Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. in the United States, whose office was involved in the early stages of the investigation.

It is still unclear how many children were victimized by Mikelsons, although Dutch authorities believe it could be between 30 and 53 children. The crimes were allegedly committed in the past year and a half and involved children between the ages 0 and 4.

In addition to the arrest of Mikelsons, his 37-year-old husband was also arrested on accusations of possessing child pornography. He, however, is currently not believed to have been involved in the actual abuse of any children.

Further, a third man who worked at one of the nursery schools where Mikelsons has worked was also arrested. He was arrested for allegedly attempting an 'indecent' online chat.

"This arrest underlines the fact that there will be no refuge for child sexual predators who believe that they pursue their perverse behavior with impunity online," said Bruce Foucart, a special agent in charge of the ICE HSI in Boston. "Law enforcement agencies will continue to work tirelessly across jurisdictions and national boundaries to protect children anywhere in the world. I commend the collaboration of our agents and our law enforcement partners who were able to track down this child predator."

The investigation is continuing in cooperation with Dutch and U.S. law enforcement agencies. The crime is one of the worst cases of sexual abuse in the Netherlands' history.

A New Bedford man was charged Dec. 8 in federal court with possessing child pornography, as reported by the Raynham Call.

Larry Heyes, 57, was charged in a criminal complaint with possession ofchild pornography. The complaint alleges that on October 6, 2010, Heyes knowingly possessed visual depictions of minor engaging in sexual explicit conduct. According to court documents, Heyes is a registered sex offender and was previously convicted of raping a child.
If convicted on these charges, Heyes faces up to 20 years imprisonment, to be followed by up to lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Colonel Marian McGovern, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement. This case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Yoon of Ortiz's Major Crimes Unit.

In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/