Crime Time

Police: Officers find child porn dating to 1970s when man arrested

Finding images they said dated back to the 1970s, police in El Paso have arrested a 64-year-old man in whose mobile home officers discovered more than 34,500 pornographic images of children, the El Paso Times reported.

Police said they are still counting the images and that the total could exceed 40,000 once they're done. Police raided the mobile home after getting a tip from the Texas Attorney General's office.

Jail records show the man has been released from custody on a $25,000 bond.

-- Lance Murray

Report: Coppell student arrested for child porn on school computer

I'm pretty sure this is not how the Coppell school district intended for its computer to be used.

KDFW Channel 4 has a story this morning that saying the district confirmed that one of its students -- a 16-year-old -- has been arrested for having child pornography on a school-issued laptop.

The district is cooperating with the investigation, the station reported. The person arrested was a student at New Tech High, the station reported.

-- Lance Murray

Ex-member of anti-child abuse group arrested on child porn charge

A onetime member of a child abuse prevention group in the Baytown area has been arrested for possession of child pornography, the Texas Attorney General's office announce.

David Wane Garvey, 50, had been a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse.

Garvey, who was arrested Tuesday morning at a Baytown garage where he worked as a mechanic, faces third-degree felony charges, the AG release said. His arrest was captured on video.

Each count carries between two and 10-year prison sentences.

-- Lance Murray

Pastor sent child porn over Internet, prosecutor says

A Kaufman County pastor has been charged with transporting child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

They say he sent pornographic images -- described as "child porn" and "child erotica" -- using Google's now-defunct Hello software.

Nathaniel Jones has the full report here. You can also check out the pastor's MySpace page here and see the U.S. Attorney's statement here.

-- Andrew Chavez

Neighbor: Interpol child sex suspect was 'the best Santa Claus'

The man apprehended after the international police agency Interpol put out a photo of a man suspected of sexually abusing boys in southeast Asia is an actor who painted faces and was, a neighbor said, "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen."

Wayne Nelson Corliss was arrested at his Union City, N.J., apartment and is charged with producing child pornography. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to federal prosecutors. Corliss is suspected of abusing at least three boys ages 6 to 10 years old in southest Asia.

Interpol took the unusual step of releasing a photo of the suspect in hopes that someone could identify him, setting off a global manhunt. Corliss was arrested two days later.

-- Lance Murray

Birthday clown arrested on child porn charges

Police in Westbury, N.Y., have arrested a part-time birthday clown on charges of promoting sexual performance of a child after police said he used his home computer to "receive and distribute hundreds of images" of child pornography, Long Island Newsday is reporting.

Police said that Alexander Zacarias, 40, often worked as a clown at children's birthday parties.

Numerous desktop and notebook computers were seized from his home, police said.

-- Lance Murray

Used cell phone contained child porn, Dallas police say

You never know what you'll find on a used cell phone. According to Dallas police, a person recently found child pornography on a cellphone just purchased at a pawn shop and called police.

The phone contained a video of man involved in a sex act with a child, according to a release from Senior Cpl. Janice Crowther, a Dallas police spokeswoman.

"A detective in the Dallas Police Department’s Child Exploitation Unit has identified the child and the possible suspect," Crowther said. Dallas police believe the offense itself took place in Denton County and are working with the Denton County District Attorney's office on the case.

According to the release, the child was under the age of 2 at the time of the offense and the suspect is an acquaintance of a family member. Crowther said that detectives do not believe the child's mother was involved or had any knowledge of what had occurred.

"The baby is not believed to be in any danger and the suspect, who lives in another county, does not have any contact with the child," Crowther said.

She also said that detectives do not believe that the person who pawned the phone was involved in the incident. Police say the investigation is on-going.

-- Lance Murray

Snapshots became evidence in child porn case

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Dallas couple to lengthy prison sentences for possessing child pornography.

Their methods of obtaining the porn are detailed in a news release from U.S. Attorney Richard Roper.

Douglas James Meyers, 45, and girlfriend Amanda Renee Jenson, 20, were arrested after a 13-year-old girl told law enforcement officers last June that the couple sexually assaulted her during a weekend at their home.

And Meyers photographed it, which gave Dallas police and federal agents plenty of evidence to build the case.

Meyers got 25 years in prison and Jenson got 15 years.

When they're finally released they will have to register as sex offenders and be under supervised release for the rest of their lives, according to the judge's sentencing.

Roper credited the cooperation of federal agents and members of the Dallas Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, calling it "another Project Safe Childhood success story.”

The project is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice that fights the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children.

Click here to read the entire news release. Then click here to read more about Project Safe Childhood.

-- Bill Miller