Police arrest man for child pornography after tipoff from burglars

Sykk

CNN

A central California man has been arrested for possession of child pornography, thanks to a tip from burglars who robbed the man's property, authorities said.

Last month, a juvenile and a 19-year-old illegally accessed the property of Kraig Stockard, 54, of Delhi, California, according to a statement from Deputy Tom MacKenzie of the Merced County Sheriff's Department. They broke into Stockard's barn and stole approximately 50 CDs they believed were blank.
Stockard filed a police report on the incident on September 12, according to MacKenzie.

But the young people who stole the CDs were in for a surprise. When they began putting the discs into their computer, they discovered that some of them contained pornographic images of children, the statement said.
Despite having obtained the CDs under decidedly shady circumstances, the pair decided to report Stockard to the police.

A search warrant was served and three more computers and three laptops were taken from Stockard's home, along with several external hard drives. Police said there were thousands of pictures and movies on the CDs -- more than 30 of the 50 discs had child pornography on them.

Investigators said Stockard has been downloading indecent images of children since 2004. He has admitted possessing the pornography on the CDs but has refused to say whether there is pornography on the computers, they said. Stockard was booked for possession of child pornography and posted $25,000 bail.

The two burglar suspects who reported Stockard have not been arrested.
Their case has been sent to the Merced County District Attorney's Office for review. When reached for comment, a press officer told CNN the office could not comment on the case because one of the informants in question is a juvenile.

Fair play to the two lads who robbed the place. They shouldn't have done it in the first place but I think it took balls to go to the police to report it after having committed burglary themselves!

Seachmall

Either this, or a case very similar, happened a while ago and I have to say fair play to them.

In that situation it would've been much easier to dump everything knowing the crime wouldn't be reported but instead risked themselves to bring a worse criminal to justice.

Yes, they are criminals and should be locked up for burglarizing but it just goes to show that the mentality of criminals isn't simply black and white. They probably justify their crime somehow but recognized this as something that needed to be reported regardless of the consequences.

DrumSteve

Who needs the cops eh...? Just let criminal's dispense justice. Worked for that other paedo who got disembowelled.

Fair play to the 2 lads i'd say they'll get off with a warning here.

Mindkiller

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

Seachmall

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

I guess it's somewhat difficult and risky to get so when they get some they get as much as possible to keep them going for good while.

Having a lot also, I'd imagine, makes it easier to trade. No one is going to trade for a video or picture they already have.

Saila

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

one thing you say

Standard Toaster

Honor among thieves.

He should have bought a bluray burner

the groutch

Oh my good that's shocking stuff, who in their right mind spells Craig with a K?

Jimoslimos

Why wouldn't he have destroyed the evidence once he discovered the break-in and missing CDs?

damonjewel

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

Yes I never understood this myself, its totally weird. I remember when reading about "the wonderland club" pedo ring that was busted years ago, that to join up you had to have 10000 pictures of pedo porn or something. Maybe the police should investigate guys that seem to constantly buy stacks of blank cds.

As for the two guys that reported it, I'm kinda hoping it was Bubbles and Johnny from "The Wire" type deal

CrazyRabbit

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

1. The police routinely over-estimate the amount. Makes for better PR.

2. It's a form of OCD based around their overwhelming desire for something they can't (legally) have. I imagine it's common for heterosexual males in sexually repressive countries (e.g Saudi Arabia), to possess large amount of adult porn.

3. The porn reinforces their fantasy that a lot of children would be interested in sexual activity with adults. i.e, it gives them hope of finding a 'willing' child themselves.

amacachi

Why don't cops always just get other people to get evidence when they have no warrent?

Hannibal Smith

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Why wouldn't he have destroyed the evidence once he discovered the break-in and missing CDs?

Coz the burglars had it?

Chuck Stone

amacachi wrote: »

Why don't cops always just get other people to get evidence when they have no warrent?

I presume they didn't have any evidence until after they got the warrant and carried out the search. The lads could have been bullshitting after all.

Fuck knows how many malicious 'tip offs' the filth* get.


*term of affection for the police.

Reign_on_You

Fair play to the guys who reported him. Not an easy thing to do when you are facing an arrest yourself - Justice will prevail in the end

dark crystal

Why didn't they just give an anonymous tip off instead? Might have saved them getting arrested...

StephenHendry

DrumSteve wrote: »

Who needs the cops eh...? Just let criminal's dispense justice. Worked for that other paedo who got disembowelled.

Fair play to the 2 lads i'd say they'll get off with a warning here.

i agree with you, same with gangland crime in this country. the gardai can't do anything except leaving 'fat freddie' and 'fat johnny' to take themselves out

CoolHat

dark crystal wrote: »

Why didn't they just give an anonymous tip off instead? Might have saved them getting arrested...

Too true.
I mean I could break into a house and see a dead body the resident killed. report it to the police, and in turn get arrested for breaking in. As they kick me in the cell "thanks for reporting it mate, now in you go" :pac:

Now they're young and one is a juvenile. They might get off. But they're leaving their fate up the someone else. They might come up against a 'by the book' judge. While an anonymous tip could of done the job.

4leto

A strangely heart warming story, some scumbag burglars get a gripe with conscience and to spite the consequence they report it for a greater good risking prison themselves.

I kind of hope the burglars with this action see themselves as greater then scumbag burglars and improve themselves.

orourkeda

Two wrongs never make a right.

While nobody would condone the use of child porn material. The whole thing is just a clusterf*ck

minidazzler

Seachmall wrote: »

Either this, or a case very similar, happened a while ago and I have to say fair play to them.

In that situation it would've been much easier to dump everything knowing the crime wouldn't be reported but instead risked themselves to bring a worse criminal to justice.

Yes, they are criminals and should be locked up for burglarizing but it just goes to show that the mentality of criminals isn't simply black and white. They probably justify their crime somehow but recognized this as something that needed to be reported regardless of the consequences.

Nah, they should have to do something else, not get locked up though. Locking up a 19 year old for a non-violent burglary is a recipe for turning him into a harder criminal.

As for the guy who owned the CD's, a nice long prison term is just what he needs.

Ditch

Sykk wrote: »

" Stockard filed a police report on the incident on September 12, according to MacKenzie."

:eek: That's fucking bizarre! The guy actually had the balls (?) to go and complain to the police that his CD's had been stolen!

What if the cops had caught the thieves and then examined the discs?

" Ahem; And would ye say that These are your stolen property, Mr Stockard? "

Talk about the six million dollar question!

So, maybe he actually hoped the cops might find his gear and just hand it back, without looking on any of the discs? I guess they wouldn't be able to have done that without a warrant?

Jesus! That guy must have nerves of steel and a neck of pure brass!

Mr. Presentable

Seriously folks, they are Paedos not "pedos", it's honour not "honor". When did we shift West?

Those two lads would also have been done for possession of child pornography had the case been here.

Mike 1972

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

Never figured this one out either. I mean the average person would have at maximum a few DVD's worth (and most of that would be video) many would have none at all.

Unless its the case that its so difficult to catch people downloading child porn that its only the really prolific ones who are getting caught ?

marco_polo

Mindkiller wrote: »

One thing I don't understand about pedos.. why do they need so much child porn in the first place? You always hear about mountains of CDs and HDDs being confiscated. Like they have a metric ton of the stuff

Maybe they should just ask the offender which drives contain illegal material and which ones don't and just take those ones away for examination.

Snakeblood

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Never figured this one out either. I mean the average person would have at maximum a few DVD's worth (and most of that would be video) many would have none at all.

Unless its the case that its so difficult to catch people downloading child porn that its only the really prolific ones who are getting caught ?

Maybe people think it's so hard to get the have to keep what they have? Normal porn is everywhere, which is fantastic.

Fbjm

I don't know if this has already been said, but I would assume that they turned him in because they uploaded the discs onto their pc. They wouldn't want to chance someone finding it on their hard drive I'd imagine.

CoolHat

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Unless its the case that its so difficult to catch people downloading child porn that its only the really prolific ones who are getting caught ?

I think that's the case. And I also think its the case with downloading in general. Any news story I heard of someone who got arrested for downloading (movies, music etc) was only because they were the ones sharing to thousands of people.

Snakeblood

Fbjm wrote: »

I don't know if this has already been said, but I would assume that they turned him in because they uploaded the discs onto their pc. They wouldn't want to chance someone finding it on their hard drive I'd imagine.

Then you just delete them, I'd have thought.

Seachmall

dark crystal wrote: »

Why didn't they just give an anonymous tip off instead? Might have saved them getting arrested...

I don't think an anonymous tip would be enough for a warrant, I'd imagine they need evidence that identifies the person (who the warrant is for) as responsible.

Raging_Ninja

Snakeblood wrote: »

Then you just delete them, I'd have thought.

Simply clicking on delete and emptying the recycle bin isn't enough. The information is still on the HDD, and can be fairly easily recovered by someone who knows what he or she is doing.

stupidusername

Snakeblood wrote: »

Then you just delete them, I'd have thought.

Surely if it was that easy,no one with child porn would ever get caught.

Seachmall

stupidusername wrote: »

Surely if it was that easy,no one with child porn would ever get caught.

With the freely available encryption tools today I'm surprised any perverts get caught with stuff on their computers, they must genuinely be morons.

stupidusername

Seachmall wrote: »

With the freely available encryption tools today I'm surprised any perverts get caught with stuff on their computers, they must genuinely be morons.

But if they were really that good,they'd be illegal.

Mike 1972

Seachmall wrote: »

With the freely available encryption tools today I'm surprised any perverts get caught with stuff on their computers, they must genuinely be morons.

Given that people have been arrested having sent laptops back for repair and the shop staff finding it in their recycle bin (unemptied) or even on the desktop they probably are.

Seachmall

stupidusername wrote: »

But if they were really that good,they'd be illegal.

I doubt any police force in Ireland, or small local forces anywhere in the world, would have the computing power to crack even basic/outdated encryptions.

The FBI reportedly had trouble cracking truecrypt.

Ditch

Snakeblood wrote: »

Maybe people think it's so hard to get they have to keep what they have?

I kind of thought that ~ ' It's not as if they could pop back to Red Tube and get some more.'

But then; They do have truck loads. Which seems a contradiction. It suggests they can source it easily enough .....

My fucking brain hurts now. This must be one of lifes big imponderables.

MungBean

stupidusername wrote: »

Surely if it was that easy,no one with child porn would ever get caught.

I'd wager any paedo with half a brain will never be caught. For every person who thinks about what he's doing theres thousands that dont. Sad thing is even most of the idiots wont be caught. This idiot had a mountain unencrypted in his front room, and only got caught because the burglars that stole it told the police.

Alls it takes is to google "encrypting" and "proxy" and chances are you'll never be caught.

UglyBolloxFace

Seachmall wrote: »

I guess it's somewhat difficult and risky to get so when they get some they get as much as possible to keep them going for good while.

Having a lot also, I'd imagine, makes it easier to trade. No one is going to trade for a video or picture they already have.

Only a paedophile could give that explanation o_O

Seachmall

UglyBolloxFace wrote: »

Only a paedophile could give that explanation o_O

Did my clever use of "I guess" and "I'd imagine" not throw you off? Damn, I was sure it would!!

MungBean

Seachmall wrote: »

Oh, you got me

Reported as an admission of paedophilia, your in trouble now !!

Seachmall

MungBean wrote: »

Reported as an admission of paedophilia, your in trouble now !!

You can prove nothing!!

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to wipe my computer for a completely unrelated reason.

chickendinner

Seachmall wrote: »

You can prove nothing!!

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to wipe my computer for a completely unrelated reason.

Animal Porn?

UglyBolloxFace

dark crystal wrote: »

Why didn't they just give an anonymous tip off instead? Might have saved them getting arrested...

I'm sure they initially thought of this. But then they realised "hold on, what the feck are we gonna do with these CDs?", knowing full well that it would be difficult to shift them and detrimental if they were caught with them.

I doubt they did this out of the good of their hearts.

UglyBolloxFace

MungBean wrote: »

your in trouble now !!

His what?

angelinamo

Sykk wrote: »

CNN



Fair play to the two lads who robbed the place. They shouldn't have done it in the first place but I think it took balls to go to the police to report it after having committed burglary themselves!

too fukn right, good yis lads, dirty bastard, ugh cut his cock off, my oulfella was a dirtbird, i hate them, tank **** for burglars this time yea#

MungBean

UglyBolloxFace wrote: »

His what?

His person.

angelinamo

dark crystal wrote: »

Why didn't they just give an anonymous tip off instead? Might have saved them getting arrested...

they wer let off wit the charges but it wouldve been a better idea to do a tip off but they really wanted to makesure he was caught, so fair play to them, i woulda burnt dat c=nt to the ground

Zebra3

Seachmall wrote: »

I doubt any police force in Ireland, or small local forces anywhere in the world, would have the computing power to crack even basic/outdated encryptions.

The FBI reportedly had trouble cracking truecrypt.

Sure the guards apparently couldn't open laptops from Anglo Irish and the staff wouldn't give them the passwords.

Or maybe they just weren't arsed. :rolleyes:

LH Pathe

the groutch wrote: »

Oh my good that's shocking stuff, who in their right mind spells Craig with a K?

my brother has a pal called not ciaràn but kioran or some shìt. what's he a black footballer from tottenham, don't even wanna know but people are tweaking names more than ever. Else mispelling em, It's a chav thing

/ worst part is he's irish. no idea who the parents were though

carveone

Seachmall wrote: »

You can prove nothing!!

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to wipe my computer for a completely unrelated reason.

I had to do that after I spilt coke on it...