11-20-2009 Vermont:
A Rutland man convicted of multiple counts of producing child pornography lost his freedom, his savings and his home on Wednesday.
Allan E. Patrick, 58, was sentenced to more than 12 years in jail and agreed to forfeit his Royce Street home and his retirement account to pay $142,500 to five victims. Patrick's home at 21 Royce St. has been transferred to the federal government, which plans to sell the property. Patrick's lawyer said the property is assessed at $149,700.
Patrick pleaded guilty in August to charges that he videotaped sexual acts performed by children as young as 8 years old at his home between 2000 and 2002, according to court records.
He was arrested in February 2008 and charged in Rutland District Court. In February 2009 his case was transferred to U.S. District Court where a magistrate ordered him jailed pending trial.
On Wednesday, the court heard from the grandmother of two victims and two young women who the lawyers said would receive restitution from Patrick but who weren't named in the criminal case.
"He was old enough to know better. They trusted him and he violated that," the grandmother said breaking down into sobs as she confronted Patrick.
"It's been hell," one of the young women said recalling nightmarish memories she said takes medication to suppress. "He was reeling us in in ways he knew he could get us."
The woman's allusions were to Patrick's practice of buying cigarettes and alcohol for the children and teenagers he is convicted of videotaping in his home.
"He thinks I'm not a victim," the other woman said referring to objections the defense attorney made regarding the women's ability to address the court. "But I've got the emotional scars that won't go away in 10 years or 20 years. They're never going away."
Standing up at the end of the hearing, Patrick faced the rows of victims seated behind him and apologized.
"I'm very sorry," he said. "I was the adult and you were the children. I know I hurt you and I hope the restitution will take care of your treatment and I hope you lead good and healthy lives."
Patrick also apologized to the court and promised he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
"I want you to know if I do get a second chance I'll get every kind of counseling I can in prison," Patrick told the judge. "There's a half of me that's a good person who worked hard all his life but the other half of me the devil's got a grip right on. That's the part I want to get fixed."
Judge J. Garvan Murtha said he recognized the different sides of Patrick, whose criminal record was otherwise clean. But he rejected his request for a minimum 10-year sentence choosing instead to send Patrick to jail for 12 years and seven months.
"You do have a sickness. Some of your character is good, some of it not so good and some of it terrible," Murtha said. "The seriousness of the offenses is horrendous which is why I'm sentencing you to 151 months." ..Source.. Brent Curtis Staff Writer
November 20, 2009
Sex abuser loses house; proceeds go to restitution
October 23, 2009
KY- Lexington house forfeited in child-porn case
10-23-2009 Kentucky:
CHEVY CHASE MAN PLEADED GUILTY IN JUNE TO LARGE COLLECTION
A Lexington man must spend more than 15 years in prison and forfeit his Chevy Chase home after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Joseph Robert Leitner, 62, pleaded guilty in June to one charge of receiving child pornography. He admitted collecting child pornography for years and had computers and CDs that contained more than 30,000 images of child pornography, some involving children as young as 6, according to his plea agreement. There were approximately 100 CDs and several computers seized during the search of Leitner's residence in June 2008.
Senior Judge Karl S. Forester sentenced Leitner Tuesday to 188 months in prison. The federal government will also seize Leitner's home at 417 Cochran Road because of the high volume of images and the length of time Leitner used his home to download and view child pornography.
Leitner is the first defendant to forfeit his home because of a child pornography conviction in the Eastern District of Kentucky, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hydee R. Hawkins, who prosecuted Leitner, said the sentence sends a message to child predators that "we are going to take the very place you used to exploit children."
Leitner said during sentencing that he had not downloaded or watched child pornography since 2000.
"They probably were dusty as the devil when you guys found them," Leitner said of the CDs seized from his home. "I hadn't watched them in years."
The case against Leitner started after another man, David M. Allen, ordered child pornography in 2006 from a federal postal inspector working undercover, according to court documents. When police went to investigate, Leitner answered the door at the home on Cochran Road, according to a court document.
Allen was charged last year with attempting to receive child pornography, possessing child porn and using a minor to produce pornography. As part of a plea agreement, Allen testified against Leitner during sentencing Tuesday.
Allen lived with Leitner on and off for more than two years. Allen testified that he stumbled across a collection of child pornography on Leitner's computer in 2002. Allen told Leitner that he had "similar interests" and Leitner allowed Allen to transfer files to his computer, Allen testified.
Leitner told Allen he had child pornography because he was trying to track down child predators, Allen testified.
"I didn't believe it at the time and still don't believe it," he said.
A man who said he was molested by Leitner more than 50 years ago also testified during Tuesday's sentencing.
Another man testified that Leitner molested him for six years, beginning when he was 3. ..Source.. by Ashlee Clark
July 7, 2009
KY- Prosecutors in Child Pornography Case to Seize Residence
7-7-2009 Kentucky:
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Kentucky don't just want to put Joseph Robert Leitner in prison for years. The federal government wants his house.
Leitner, 62, pleaded guilty last week to charges that he possessed more than 30,000 images of child pornography, and he agreed to give up his home in the Chevy Chase subdivision of Lexington, court records show. A copy of the plea agreement is here.
Leitner, who was indicted last year, has been held in custody since October 2008. He pleaded guilty to one count of downloading child pornography in a case bolstered by images and computers taken from his home last year. Leitner faces between five and 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October. His lawyer, Jeffrey Darling, was not immediately reached for comment on Monday.
The property forfeiture marked the first time that prosecutors in the Eastern District of Kentucky have seized a home in a child pornography investigation. The forfeiture of houses more often occurs in drug prosecutions.
"He used his house as a protective shield to allow his criminal activity to go undetected," said Kyle Edelen, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors, he said, based the forfeiture decision on the number of images and the frequency of the downloads.
U.S. District Judge Karl Forester signed a preliminary judgment (.pdf) of forfeiture June 30, ordering the government to provide notice and conduct ancillary proceedings to determine whether any third parties have rights to Leitner's property. "We're not going to just rip someone from their home or leave innocent people without homes," Edelen said.
In February 2008, a defendant in the Northern District of Texas forfeited his house in a child pornography case. "We're taking the war on child exploitation very seriously and we're making it very personal. None of your property is safe if you use it to exploit children -- you can even lose your home," then-U.S. Attorney Richard Roper said in a statement at the time the defendant was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In an interview, Roper, who is now a partner at Thompson & Knight in Dallas, called forfeiture in child pornography cases "cutting-edge theory" and urged prosecutors to use discretion. Forfeiture, Roper said, should be based on a case-by-case basis. "Just because the statute gives you the authority to forfeit property doesn't mean you must do it." ..Source.. by Mike Scarcella
