10-20-2012 Florida:
A man was busted for watching child porn on his computer in Tampa, and it was where he was caught that was so alarming.
Detectives said 29-year-old Benjamin Ashauer was using his laptop computer and free wifi was the cause of his downfall. He's accused of surfing for child porn in front of the Terrace Collection strip mall on Busch Boulevard.
Someone walking by told police they saw the disturbing images on his laptop.
"We just saw images of young girls on his computer," said Hillsborough County Detective Christopher Heaverin, who is with the Internet Predator Unit. It didn't take long before the computer and Ashauer were taken into custody. He's charged with 50 counts of possessing child porn.
Ashauer told detectives he was homeless, but listed his last known address as an apartment complex in Temple Terrace, run by Touched by the Hand Ministries. We checked and there are 31 sex offenders within one mile of Touched by the Hand Ministries, seven of which are predators.
The outreach is run by felony sex offender Ruben Alvarez, whom we called, but he would not comment about Ashauer and hung up on us.
Heaverin said Ashauer is a child porn addict.
"They have to have it, and so it doesn't matter where they're at, where they're getting it from, they need it and they'll get it," he said.
And Ashauer got it using a free wifi hotspot.
"Some hotspot locations require a password," said Heaverin. Ashauer obtained one from the owner of the wifi, who later told investigators he had no idea Ashauer was looking at child porn. Still, there is plenty of free wifi out there.
"If you find them, you log on, it's just like you're sitting at your house, no password required and you can go anywhere you want on ...continued... by Stef DiPietrantonio
October 20, 2012
Deputies: Child porn suspect was 'borrowing' wifi
July 19, 2008
CO- Soldier and Wife Face Child Porn Charges
OK, the reason for this post is to point out HOW the crime was committed. Notice the innocent person who had a Home Wifi Network but failed to secure it. Right, an UNSECURED Home Wifi Network, so, if you don't want police knocking on your door -if you have a home wifi network- then make sure you SECURE it. If you don't know how, then get the local Best Buy or Circuit City technician to come to your home and learn how to do it, it is money well spent. PS: Remember, to change the security codes when they leave, so you are the master of your Wifi Network..
7-19-2008 Colorado:
COLORADO SPRINGS - A Fort Carson soldier and his wife are behind bars, facing child pornography charges. An extensive 4-month investigation led up to the arrests. The big break came when the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit at the Colorado Springs Police Department got a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
An Internet service provider intercepted emails encrypted with child pornography photos and tracked the origin to Colorado Springs. "We have a number of emails that we have confirmed he was responsible for sending," says Lt. Robert Driscoll of CSPD. Those emails contained at least five different images of child pornography.
-Notice, the ISP was looking INSIDE the person's e-mails, that is the only way they could know there was child porn within them.
Investigators say Charles Brassfield, 26, was distributing the pictures. It's a case that extends outside the state. Police are working with an Internet child crime unit in New Jersey.
"Serving search warrants on Internet service providers to identify the physical location of the computer involved," says Driscoll of what investigators did to crack this case. Police say Brassfield's wife Jocelyn helped destroy evidence as an accesory to the crime.
Both suspects face felony charges. "Serious time and serious fine," Driscoll says. If convicted, Charles could face a maximum of 24 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Police say at this point, they have no reason to believe the Brassfields played a role in creating the porn. But investigators say there's still more to uncover.
"It's ongoing," Driscoll says, "but we wanted to stop the transmission and distribution." Police say you have to protect your Internet connection. The first phase of the Brassfield case led investigators to an innocent person whose wireless connection linked him or her to this child porn case.
"The suspect in this case used another person's wireless router that they were able to tap into," says Driscoll, "unbeknownst to the owner of that wireless network." You should turn off your Internet router when it's not in use or password protect your Internet service. ..News Source.. by Stephanie Wurtz
June 4, 2008
FL- Computer signal pirate sentenced
Every WiFi owners' nightmare, but with proper security in use, this should not have happened. However, there are great hackers out there, never forget them.
6-4-2006 Florida:
LARGO — The case of a man accused of stealing someone's WiFi, considered the first case of its kind in the Tampa Bay area, ended in a plea deal Tuesday.
Benjamin Lincoln Smith was sentenced to probation after pleading no contest to stealing a wireless computer signal and no contest to an amended charge of felony child abuse relating to child porn police found on his laptop computer.
The case began on an April night three years ago when Richard Dinon noticed a sport utility vehicle parked outside his St. Petersburg home. He saw the glow of what appeared to be a laptop computer. Dinon approached the SUV, and a man inside snapped the computer shut. Dinon called police.
Police determined that Smith was the man in the SUV and had been using Dinon's wireless service. They arrested him on a felony charge of unauthorized access of a computer. Dinon feared Smith might have been mooching his Wi-Fi to download child porn.
Police later found child porn on Smith's laptop, and added a felony charge of sexual performance by a child.
Smith avoided a trial by cutting a deal with prosecutors, who amended the sex charge to felony child abuse, allowing Smith to avoid being placed on the state's sex offender list. Circuit Judge Tim Peters sentenced Smith to nearly five years of sex-offender probation.
Prosecutor Veronica Burianek said the plea deal was appropriate because the probation has other requirements normally designated for sex offenders, including a curfew, no contact with children and sex offender treatment. Smith also must allow probation officers to check his computer whenever they wish.
Smith also has no criminal history of committing child sexual abuse.
Smith's attorney, Hubbell Losson, argued in motions that the statute outlawing unauthorized access to computers did not apply to wireless service, but Peters ruled against him.
Losson said after Tuesday's hearing that he thinks lawmakers eventually will have to craft a law applying to wireless service.
"It's a dated statute," Losson said.
Smith declined to comment. ..News Source.. by Chris Tisch, Times Staff Writer
