A young man nearly 20 years-old downloads child-porn from a free-shareware site. After arrested, he is sentenced in prison for ten years and ten years probation and a hell on a life-time registry. How is it that another man does the same (Guy Gripor) and he merely gets 5 years probation. Where is the injustice with the 20 year-old's sentence and many flim-flammed with the same or similar situation?
Not all individuals arrested for a sex offense are "lurking in the darkness" as McAuliffe puts it but just happen upon it, making it a first-time offense. Now that individual is hated and ostracized by the sex offender label while society contiues to clump these people together as predators and pedophiles.
May 30, 2010|By Jerome Burdi, Sun Sentinel
Boca Raton — They commit crimes from the comfort of their homes. In cyberspace, they can take on any identity. They may not even think they're doing anything wrong.
But Palm Beach County law enforcement is on a hunt for those online child pornography traders and child-sex solicitors.
State Attorney Michael McAuliffe developed the online predator unit a year ago as part of the revamped Special Victims Unit that addresses all matters of child abuse, including sex cases.
"People who download child pornography live and lurk in the shadows and don't see the light of day unless we catch that activity," McAuliffe said.
Prosecutor Greg Schiller oversees the online predator unit of SVU, working with police officers from Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, the school district and the Sheriff's Office. In the past year, the online unit, based in Boca Raton, made about 50 arrests, up about 90 percent from the previous year, McAuliffe said.
None has gone to trial, but plea agreements have yielded six convictions.
In many instances, investigators are aggressive in their efforts to catch the online criminals, entering those social networks to see what porn trader contacts them.
Online child porn traders exchange videos on any device that can access the Internet, Schiller said.
Guy Gripor, who lives west of Boynton Beach, took his computer in for service in May 2008 when it downloaded a virus, deputies said. But the technician at Best Buy found hundreds of child pornography files and called the Sheriff's Office.
Gripor was arrested in January 2009 and charged with possession of obscene material depicting the sexual performance of a child. He pleaded guilty to possessing material harmful to minors and was sentenced to five years probation.
Experts and law enforcement say they've seen cases of child sex crimes rise with the popularity of the Internet. Before its easy access, offenders had to buy their pornography underground or order it offshore, and have it mailed.
"There's nothing else in this society besides child pornography that is readily available and highly illegal," Fort Lauderdale psychologist John Morin said.
Morin and other experts said crossing the bridge from child porn to actually molesting a child is rare, but prosecutors in Palm Beach and Broward counties said it's more likely than one may think.
The victims in the child porn are getting younger and the acts more explicit, said Dennis Nicewander, a prosecutor with Broward's Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit. The Broward unit sees about 30 cases a year.
"It's similar to a crack addict," Nicewander said. "The first time, that one piece gives all the rush they need. Then they want to move to another drug and increase the amount and severity of it until it is totally out of control."
Years ago, Nicewander said, he'd have to call pediatricians to court to testify to the age of a teen or pre-teen victim.
"Now, they are so clearly underage," he said. "You don't need someone to interpret that for you."
Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
Jerome Burdi can be reached at jburdi@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6531.
In many instances, investigators are aggressive in their efforts to catch the online criminals, entering those social networks to see what porn trader contacts them.
Online child porn traders exchange videos on any device that can access the Internet, Schiller said.
Guy Gripor, who lives west of Boynton Beach, took his computer in for service in May 2008 when it downloaded a virus, deputies said. But the technician at Best Buy found hundreds of child pornography files and called the Sheriff's Office.
Gripor was arrested in January 2009 and charged with possession of obscene material depicting the sexual performance of a child. He pleaded guilty to possessing material harmful to minors and was sentenced to five years probation.
Experts and law enforcement say they've seen cases of child sex crimes rise with the popularity of the Internet. Before its easy access, offenders had to buy their pornography underground or order it offshore, and have it mailed.
"There's nothing else in this society besides child pornography that is readily available and highly illegal," Fort Lauderdale psychologist John Morin said.
Morin and other experts said crossing the bridge from child porn to actually molesting a child is rare, but prosecutors in Palm Beach and Broward counties said it's more likely than one may think.
The victims in the child porn are getting younger and the acts more explicit, said Dennis Nicewander, a prosecutor with Broward's Sex Crimes/Child Abuse Unit. The Broward unit sees about 30 cases a year.
"It's similar to a crack addict," Nicewander said. "The first time, that one piece gives all the rush they need. Then they want to move to another drug and increase the amount and severity of it until it is totally out of control."
Years ago, Nicewander said, he'd have to call pediatricians to court to testify to the age of a teen or pre-teen victim.
"Now, they are so clearly underage," he said. "You don't need someone to interpret that for you."
Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
Jerome Burdi can be reached at jburdi@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6531.
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