http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/66B6D9585CDF206386287746000E4FE7?OpenDocument
68-Year-Old Arrested for Child Pornography
Last Updated: Friday, June 4, 2010
(AP) 68-year-old Frank Weltner is facing child pornography charges after police searched his Saint Louis home on Thursday.
The St. Louis authorities began an investigation that led to a search warrant being executed at Mr Weltner's residence at "6937 Brunno Ave" and police seized several laptops and computers from the suspect’s home.
During the initial data review, hundreds of images of child pornography were located within the confiscated devices belonging to the Weltner, said sgt. James Harrison.
Frank Weltner has been charged with several counts of possession of child pornography as well as accessing child pornography. The cyber crime analyst unit is continuing with the investigation of the data.
Weltner was released on bail on Friday, and is scheduled to appear in court on a later date.
If convicted he could face up to 10 yrs in prison.
Weltner is also known for being the owner of the controversial website JewWatch.com as well as a member of the National Alliance (a white separatist organization).
Members of the St Louis Police Dept, began the investigation in May, which involved a broad monitoring of the public domain of the internet. As well as monitoring of the suspect’s home, which led to his arrest.
It’s not clear whether Weltner also engaged in sexual activity with minors, but authorities have thus far refused to comment, due to the ongoing investigation.
Harrison said investigators in the cyber crime unit use forensic programs that do not hamper the data they collect from hard drives in-order to examine them.
They perform a preview of a computer system to see if there is sufficient evidence to lay a charge, then make an exact replica of the data, examining it bit by bit. That can take several weeks or months.
One of five officers in the unit Harrison heads works solely on identifying victims, attempting to identify children in the graphic images. Only 5% or fewer of children in these disturbing images are usually identified, according to the police sergeant.
Harrison’s unit works closely with the sexual abuse unit in order to determine if an individual accused of possessing child pornography had access to children.
As technology improves, so does its use by criminals, said the sergeant.
"The Internet and technology are an amazing tool ... but the issue is, there will always be individuals who will exploit it for the bad."
It has required a combination and coordination effort by countless levels of authorities' "international, national and local" to make arrests.
"As technology improves there will be less and less borders when it comes to the Internet," said Harrison.
Thus community partnerships are of such importance. He urges citizens to please contact authorities about suspicious activities, but most importantly, to ensure they secure their wireless Internet connections. Tips concerning security measures are readily available online.
Keeping our kids safe is what its all about, he said.
Online child pornography is often "intensely graphic and horrific. They aren’t little cute pics of children posing. In reality they are pictures of children getting rapes, abused, etc… The public must realize these children are being exploited.
"If you possess it, you will go to jail. If you distribute it, you will go to jail longer."
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