Accidental download sending man to prison

[Hans Olo]

Quote:SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― Matt White says he accidentally downloaded illegal pornography from a file sharing program called Limewire.

A local man is likely to go to prison for years after he says he accidentally downloaded child pornography onto his computer.

Matthew White, 22, said he was surfing for pornography two years ago on Limewire -- a fire sharing application that allows users to trade music, movies, games and pictures -- when he discovered that some of the files he had downloaded were images of children.

Matt claims he quickly erased the files.

"It didn't appeal to me," he said. "I was looking for women my age, so I just wanted to download 'College Girls Gone Wild' and accidentally downloaded underage pornography."

About a year later, FBI agents showed up at his family's home. The family agreed to let agents examine the computer, and at first, they couldn't find anything.

Investigators later were able to recover the deleted images from deep within the hard drive.

"I asked them, 'Where did you get that? I don't remember that.' I asked them, 'Could I access that if I wanted to?'" Matt said. "They said no."

Facing 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography, Matt is pleading guilty on the advice of his public defender in hopes of getting a three and a half year sentence. He will also serve 10 years probation and have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Matt's father says other parents need to be warned about the consequences of stumbling across illicit material.

"One day, you're going to get a knock on the door and have your child taken away for many years," he said.

Matt's court date has been moved to January 8th due to paperwork issues, according to reports.

The FBI could not comment on this specific case, but said if child pornography is ever downloaded accidentally, the user needs to call authorities immediately. They may confiscate your computer, but it's better than the alternative.

Internet searches reveal a large number of complaints from people who say they've accidentally downloaded child pornography through Limewire.

http://cbs13.com/local/limewire.child.po...46842.html

If you ask me, the first thing the man should do is hammer his attorney, file bar grievance against him for not doing his job.

[---]

mighty unfortunate, if only he had worked for the UN in Brussels - he could have raped, tortured and killed many children with complete impunity and protection.

[daniel9]

how in the world did they know even to go there? im guessing the fbi's snooping devices theyve been using for yrs without the public's knowledge? there really was no reason for him to plead guilty either

[humbug]

never has planting evidence been so easy

[---]

he should have told them to fuck off and get real .. he deserves a slap that's all. crazy world

[Melchor]

Two things. (1) Don't use LimeWire (for porn or anything else.) I've had to fix so many of my friends machines for using that crap. (2) His public defender fucked him up the ass.

[Hans Olo]

Yes, Melchor, I guess his public defender was more afraid of the judge than he was of the client. Big mistake on the client side.

[B4Time]

Two years ago wow this goes to show you how well they can watch every move everyone makes.With this telecom immunity they can track everything.The problem they are having is going through the data they collect.I guess this is why they are building all these server farms.Go through the data quicker. Not to far off they will be at your door 2 minutes after you do something that they perceive as wrong.

Limewire is the worst!!!!

[solar]

A similar thread is at this link.

(12-08-2009 07:23 AM)Melchor Wrote:  [...] His public defender fucked him up the ass.

Quote:[...] About a year later, FBI agents showed up at his family's home. The family agreed to let agents examine the computer [...]

Additionally, besides the culpability of his public "defender", many would consider his (so-called) "family" as also being culpable ...

Quote:[...] The FBI could not comment on this specific case, but said if child pornography is ever downloaded accidentally, the user needs to call authorities immediately. They may confiscate your computer, but it's better than the alternative [...]

Amazing ...

(12-08-2009 02:32 AM)zerror Wrote:  never has planting evidence been so easy

It's a valid observation ...

... can incriminating "evidence" be "planted" by a corrupt police/intelligence agency on one's computer while that computer is connected online to the Internet?

In other words, if the corrupt police/intelligence agents are not physically present "on site" with the computer in question, can they still plant incriminating "evidence" while "off site" via the Internet?

The answer is (probably) yes ...

... though if anyone has thoughts on planting evidence on an internet-connected computer without being present, please comment!

And thanks for initiating this thread, Hans!

[Hans Olo]

absolutely it is possible, and quite easy.