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Thread: Can he get arrested for this?

  1. #1
    Gray Haired Old Fart aeallison's Avatar
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    Can he get arrested for this?

    I have a friend who stumbled into one of those famous pron sites that started popping up windows of child pron. He is now extremely distraught that he might be arrested or even worse. He now wants to pull his hard drive and destroy any possible evidence on his computer. What are the opinions of the experts and law enforcement people here on AO.
    I have a question; are you the bug, or the windshield?

  2. #2
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Depends. Is he keeping them? They'd have to have a reason to search his hard drive and unless he frequents under age chat rooms trying to pick up "Buffy" and crew, he's probably safe. Taking care of his cache and getting rid of any spyware would be more of concern, IMHO.

    Also, was this a work machine?
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
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  3. #3
    Gray Haired Old Fart aeallison's Avatar
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    No he was not saving them, and he does not frequent these sites, he was actually doing some research concerning a child support case and that he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter.
    I have a question; are you the bug, or the windshield?

  4. #4
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    ..he was actually doing some research concerning a child support case and that he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter.
    Uh.. contact social services? I'd be speaking to the teacher's or another "authority" to see if they would do it if the social services won't take complaints from parents.
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
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  5. #5

    Lightbulb

    So long as he didn't purposely seek out this site, he shouldn't get busted for anything. Of course, having a secure browser and some type of pop-up control/proxy helps prevent these "attacks" in the first place. After running Spy-Bot/Ad-Aware/anti-virus/anti-trojan software, he can use a secure file-shredder program on anything that looks suspicious, and then to clear away the free space on the hard drive.

    P.S. I am by no means an 'expert' or authority on law enforcement, etc...but this is what I would do in this type of situation.

  6. #6
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    OMG.. format C: then write zeros and ones on the drive 30 times and tell him to write on the blackboard 100 times.. "I will be careful in the future"

    hehe.. naahhh.. if he deletes all his temp internet files the pictures will be gone..
    I'd be way more concerned about all the crap he might of infested his HDD with.

    you know the routine... adaware, spybotS&D, trojan scan, av scan.. hijackthis

  7. #7
    Gray Haired Old Fart aeallison's Avatar
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    I started this thread to re-assure my friend that he has absolutely nothing to worry about. Beleive me when I say he has been the butt of all of my "turnip" jokes the last 2 days.
    I have a question; are you the bug, or the windshield?

  8. #8
    Senior Member Zonewalker's Avatar
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    I'm not sure about over in the US but in the UK the cops do recognise that it is possible to 'stumble' onto kiddie sites - it depends on how far you go into them and if they can show you intended to go there. If for example your friend stopped at the index page and went no further then they should be fine - if they actually delved further onto the site... well his activity may be monitored for a while. I understand that most kiddie porn sites require you to 'verify' you're over 18 by giving them your credit card details (the really hard core sites are actually more difficult to get into as they are often stored on more private servers and you normally have to be 'in the circle' so to speak before you get given details of how to access this ****) - going this far into the site and giving your CC details is a definite indication of intent and intent is what nails you. The law (over here anyway) has to proove that you intended to go to the site so things like repeated visits and giving away personal details are given as indications of intent.

    If your friend just saw some pop ups and tried to get away fairly quickly, as long as they don't go there again and don't give away personal details they should be ok. Only thing is... are they generally secure i.e. at least with a software firewall and the usual stuff etc? I only ask because some of these kind of site will try and slave a pc and turn it into a zombie server for distributing pictures - which can obviously cause major problems especially if you don't know your pc has been enslaved. Keep an eye on what ports are being opened and general net activity for a while... don't need to add what you should do if anything looks remotely suspicious

    Another thing - is he sure they were underage girls (difficult question I know cos it implies that he took notice of the pictures) - many of the 'lolita' type sites frequently use 'models' over the age of consent (around the 17-18 yr old mark) made up to look about 15. Not that this justifies visiting these kind of sites but what I'm getting at is the type of sites that the cops are interested in aren't that easy to get onto - you usually have to know someone who can get you onto these things, paedophiles are damn careful who they tell these days. The media has hyped up the number of these sites that are actually on the web and they aren't that easy to find (I'm not talking about your more 'regular' porn site that uses 17-18yr old 'models' here, I'm talking about the kind of site that uses children anywhere from 1-14 yrs old). Having said that even one of these kind of sites is too many if you ask me.

    I'd just like to say that I'm not a legal expert neither do I work in law enforcement - I just know people who do and some of the things I've been told... well it'd make your toes curl and your blood boil - and I don't even have kids of my own to feel protective over.

    Finally your friend really needs to be careful when looking into this kind of stuff.... one recent rock star (Pete Townsend from the Who if you didn't hear about it over in the US) was accused of being a paedophile not so long ago. He said he was doing research into paedophilia and only visited a kiddie site (a real one) to get some idea of what was distributed... eventually he got accquitted but it was a close call for him. Really, please tell your friend to be very very careful - if he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter he should get some legal advice.

    Hope all goes well

    Z
    Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes

  9. #9
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    Hes prety safe as long as he dosn't have a history of browseing kiddey porn/paid for it. tell him to makesure he clears his caash...you may also want to install a popup blocker on his system
    Who is more trustworthy then all of the gurus or Buddha’s?

  10. #10
    Old Fart
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    If I were your buddy I'd consider copying the URL into an email to the FBI, as that site needs to be taken down. That way he has the added defense of being the person who REPORTED it to law enforcement in the first place, which would hinder any allegations of malicious intent AND create "reasonable doubt" in the eyes of a jury (if needed).
    Al
    It isn't paranoia when you KNOW they're out to get you...

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