Who’s The Bad Guy

Not something you hear everyday. I was impressed anyway.

Odd. I would have figured that once the laptop was stolen, it would no longer be valid as evidence, since the thief could have put the images on there. Unless the guy confessed as soon as he was confronted by the police.

Unless the owner was identifiable is some of the images, I imagine this would count as little more than a tip-off. Still, if you do this stuff and are still dumb enough not to at least encrypt it, once the cops show an interest in the contents of your CDROM shelf, email account, etc. you are probably f***ed!

Almost the same thing happened here in Eugene, Oregon. A guy stole a car and when he opened the trunk and found it full of child-porn photos he went straight to the cops. It was a local music teacher who had been abusing kids in his shop for years and was making the porn. He'd been busted and served time before for the same thing, so the cops really should have had him on the radar. Loren Sicks (fitting name for a sicko, eh) is finally where he belongs and won't be getting out for many years.

Dumbfounded is exactly right about the difficulty of prosecuting with evidence like this. The cops had to go to local schools and ask teachers and priciples to identify the children in the photos, then contact the families and try to get their cooperation. Pedophiles have these kids so scared and shamed and twisted up inside (by calculating design) that even then it is hard to get enough cooperation to stick the busts. Only by creating a new case with the help of these brave little boys who'd been been through a mind shattering hell could they put this scum behind bars.

Yes, and how long would he have been able to continue unhindered if not for a car thief with a conscience.

A good attorney would argue that the evidence was obtained illegally - no warrant!

A good attorney would argue that the evidence was obtained illegally - no warrant!

IANAL, tadchem, but I would think that this is not an issue. The cops didn't go looking for it (warrant needed), they were presented with it cleanly.

Even after all the initial bust Sicks was out on bail and the cops plead him down to fewer and lesser charges. The system just isn't prepared to deal with un-reformable offenders. As bad as it sounds I really wish there were more vigilante parents that just killed these pedophiles when they learned what had been done to their children. Nothing else works, and even elderly pedophiles are still quite dangerous.

Sicks went to jail in 1999 and is still there. He can't leave until 2023, http://docpub.state.or.us/OOS/intro.jsf. I think the system handled him quite well.

I wonder what happened to the guy who stole the laptop and turned it in.

@Miles: Then the system needs to be devolved to a time & system that DID know how to deal with these types.

@Michael: They also busted him and sent him to prison in 1978 for the same thing. I'd have a hard time telling all the kids he abused until 1999 that the system did a satisfactory job protecting them from a known predator.

...Not to beat a dead horse, but the 1978 bust was actually Sicks' third sex-abuse bust. He also got caught abusing boys back in 1962. Not a great system in my eyes.

I find it incredible that so many pedophiles are "captured and released" so many times, and are allowed to be out in society to hurt more kids. Our system is broken, we need harsher sentences or chemical lobotamy treatment to stop these deranged f*&@#s!!

A good old fashioned physical lobotomy would work too.

That costs too much money patty, how about an old fashioned blanket party?

A knife, coat hanger, needle & thread aren't expensive.

Lobotomies used to be very common. It was used in some instances to control headstrong women. Francis Farmer's mother ended up getting it done to her because she wanted to quit show business (and quit being the family cash cow). Joe Kennedy had it done to one of his daughters because she did not tow the family line also.