Police chief, rabbi among 71 nabbed in child porn bust

[hue]

Source: USA TODAY

A police chief, a rabbi and a Boy Scout leader are among at least 70 men and one woman arrested on charges of trading in child pornography in what officials say is one of the largest-ever roundups in the New York City area.

The arrests were part of a five-week federal investigation that resulted in the seizure of nearly 600 desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones and other devices containing a total of 175 terabytes of storage, federal officials said.

Investigators from Immigration Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations planned to announce the arrests at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Officials said the defendants chatted online and shared images using peer-to-peer file sharing programs. One defendant led to another who led to others.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/21/child-porn-nyc-internet/9367471/

[packman]

1. Hence, a new joke line

A police chief, a rabbi, and a Boy Scout leader walk into a bar....

[adieu]

4. I was so going to post that

Damn you!

[packman]

12. Brothers in Perverted Thinking

[PumpkinAle]

2. Sickening.

Those poor children.

[MissDeeds]

9. +10000

What makes this even more horrific (if possible) is that these people are in positions of "trust". Children are taught to trust the police, the Boy Scout leader, the religious leader. Damn these deviants all to hell. I hope their victims heal and overcome this terrible injustice.

[okaawhatever]

10. +10,000 nt

[Blue_Tires]

3. ugh...The police chief was naturally a volunteer catechism teacher

A volunteer catechism teacher for eight years at Shrub Oak's St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Fanelli also lectured more than 1,000 parish schoolchildren on staying safe from sexual abuse and "the pitfalls of social media, games and computer applications." He was removed from his position after his arrest was announced.

Be assured that Mr. Fanelli will no longer be permitted to serve as a catechist," wrote Sara Koshofer, of the church education program, in a letter posted on the parish website.

Alyssa Monteleone of Yorktown Heights, who attended Fanelli's "Safe Environment" class at the church with her 7-year-old son, said he taught the children about boundaries and good and bad touches. When he asked whom they would talk to if they were in an uncomfortable situation, she said, many of the kids said they would tell police.

"I thought it was a great thing that a police chief would come in and talk to the children, someone that they could trust. So to find this is out is shocking," she said Friday. "It's a hard concept to wrap your head around."


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/24/file-sharing-network-key-to-child-porn-arrest/4861359/

[Xithras]

17. That's one of those "no way to know" questions.

Answering that question requires knowing how many people actually view child pornography, and that's an unknowable factor.

On one hand, interviews with actual child molesters indicates that child porn "legitimizes" sex with minors. There is a psychological argument to be made that this legitimization may cause people who had otherwise not molested to do so. It's backed up by the fact that the overwhelming majority of people convicted of child molestation were also caught in possession of child porn.

On the other hand, there have been studies done on people arrested solely for possession which indicates that the likelihood of making the leap from "pictures to people" requires other psychological issues that are unconnected to the pornography itself. Like "conventional" porn, it may trigger those already inclined to commit sexual assault to do so, but may not act as a trigger for those who weren't already primed for that sort of thing. There's also a Swiss study that found that only 1% of people caught with child porn were connected with actual child molestation before or after their porn bust. This backs up some research by Kinsey suggesting that the vast majority of pedophiles never assault a child.

Either way, the possession of child porn is still harmful to the original victim. Because the victim never consented to having the images taken, they are the moral equivalent of a hidden camera in a bathroom or changing room. Viewing the images, in and of themselves, is a form of sexual exploitation. Even if it were established that there was NO causal relationship between child porn and child molestation, those viewing child porn should still be arrested and prosecuted.

[billhicks76]

16. Holy Crap

How many high ranking pedophile ring participants has this Police Chief protected? And a rabbi too? It's not just priests. We have an underbelly of evil in high places running the show we call America. True Detective is probably much truer than people realize.

[Jerry442]

5. I'd hope the Boy Scout leader wasn't looking at gay porn...

...because that would be bad, you know.

{/sarcasm}

[AtheistCrusader]

6. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

[Submariner]

7. Wearing only a police hat, boy scout leader hat and rabbi hat

they should be stripped naked and put on display in a cage in the back of a pickup truck driving all around town for all to see. These kiddie porn freaks need to be shamed then locked up for life without parole. Sick twisted punks.

[Ash_F]

8. Police Chief? We need a better vetting process for these people. /nt

[Lancero]

18. Honestly, with how many cops...

Get away with murder, I'm a bit surprised that this guy was even arrested.

[secondwind]

13. A police chief, a rabbi, and a boy scout leader walk into this bar.........

[JoeyT]

14. It's a good thing the Boy Scouts still

don't want LGBT or atheists and only accept scout leaders of the highest moral fiber.

[Crabby Appleton]

19. Kicked for visibility. nt