Crime Time

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