Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Carthage men facing child porn charges released on bond

Following brief sessions this morning in U. S. District Court in Springfield, two Carthage men facing child pornography charges waived the reading of their indictments and entered not guilty pleas.

The two men were released on personal recognizance bonds, despite the assistant U. S. attorney's motion to deny bond.

In a motion filed Tuesday, Assistant U. S. Attorney Patrick Carney said Luis Eduardo Martinez and Ricardo Vargas-Villalobos, have a "dangerous addiction" to child pornogrpahy and a penchant for hanging out at parks and other places where children play.

The motion also noted that the men, who are roommates, admitted to frequently downloading and viewing child pornography together.


The motion for Martinez included the following passage:

The defendant was not employed at the time he was contacted by law enforcement and was known to spend extended periods of time in recreational and park areas frequented by underage children.  In fact, at the time he was located by law enforcement for the aforementioned voluntary interview, law enforcement contacted the defendant at a local skate park.  

The admissions made by the defendant and his roommate demonstrate that they have both developed a dangerous addiction to viewing images of children engaged in sexual explicit conduct with men of ages comparable to themselves.  When we consider the defendant’s habit of hanging out at parks where children play, the defendant is clearly a danger to the community.  Furthermore, the indictment charges this defendant with an offense that includes a substantial minimum period of incarceration.  When we consider that the defendant does not have significant connections to the community, he is also a significant flight risk. 

In a statement given at the Carthage Police Department, Martinez revealed just how much into child pornography he was:

On December 21, 2012, the defendant voluntarily accompanied officers to the Carthage Police Department to provide a statement.  After being told that he was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time, the defendant provided a statement and responded to the agents’ questions.  The defendant admitted to search for and receiving child pornography two to three times per week for several months.  The defendant admitted that he searched for images of child pornography that included ages as young as toddlers.  The defendant admitted to using ARES to obtain images of child pornography for his personal viewing.  

After conducting the search warrant, law enforcement seized a laptop computer that belong to the defendant and a desktop computer that was used by both the defendant and Vargas.  The defendant’s laptop computer was found to contain numerous images and videos of child pornography.  The desktop computer had user accounts for both the defendant and Vargas.  Within the defendant’s user account, a forensic examination revealed the presence of 10 video files of child pornography.  Within Vargas’ user account, a forensic examination revealed the presence of 19 files of child erotica, 29 files of child pornography, and 79 videos of child pornography. 

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