A 33-year-old Batavia man pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to a felony charge of receiving child pornography.
Samuel W. Nigro faces a prison sentence of five to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was prosecuted in a Buffalo federal court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango. Mango said Nigro received images and videos of child pornography using various internet sites on or about Dec. 9, 2008.
A search warrant was executed on Nigro's Batavia residence on Dec. 9, 2009. Mango said a forensic analysis of Nigro's computer revealed a total of 5,239 images and 113 videos of child pornography.
Sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Nov. 16 in Buffalo.
Something has always puzzled
Something has always puzzled me about these cases. Whenever I read about them in the news, it always says the guys get caught with a huge collection of kiddie porn. The report never says anything about where the porn came from or if the source was also busted. It seems to me that if these guys are busted with pictures because they were stupid enough to hand out their credit card number for something so illegal, why can't law enforcement shut down the source of the material as soon as it appears?
If law enforcement can investigate, target individuals suspected of collecting kiddie porn, track their financial records and trace them back to a specific IP then they should be able to pinch the source of the materials just as easily. Everything that shows up on the web should be able to be traced back to its originating point of entry.
As heinous as kiddie porn is, how is it that simply having images and videos of it can garner a 20 year sentence? Murderers get less time than that. How about law enforcement concentrate on busting the source? Who is making it? Those are the people who should get a long sentence.
It seems to me that law enforcement can be part of the problem, too. Example: Law enforcement routinely allows a drug house to operate while they monitor activity and gather information about who is buying and who is dealing. As we've recently read in the news, this "surveillance" can go on for months, even years before any arrests are made. Meanwhile, drug trafficking and abuse happen under the watchful eye of the law. Weird, huh?
It just seems that there are a huge volume of arrests for guys collecting child porn while we hear nothing of people being busted for making it available.
i think is because the source
i think is because the source is usually other country's that we have no control over.
Actually it's generally
Actually it's generally because it's much easier to track uploads than downloads. Mr. Nigro was likely sharing these photos/videos with others, probably via torrent or something similar, and on a public tracker.
Unless he really was stupid enough to pay for porn on the internet.
We reported on this case
We reported on this case before and Sam was accused of sharing a file with another person through a chatroom. An FBI agent was monitoring that chatroom.
Another person locally who was busted on the same charge made a purchase through a child porn site out of Florida that had been seized by the FBI.
An FBI agent I spoke with about this issue said often times the pictures either originate overseas or have been in circulation for decades, well before digital file sharing was possible.
So if the pictures have been
So if the pictures have been in circulation for decades or originate from another country outside of U.S. Jurisdiction, why are the penalties for possessing them so stiff? (No pun intended). I dunno..it just seems like we're wasting our time with picture and video peepers while the real criminals go free. We're going to pay for these people to live in jail for decades because they possessed pictures and video. That just sounds insane to me.
I'm not saying that these guys aren't sick, I'm thinking more along the lines of wasted efforts and money. I don't believe that when these guys are busted for trading kiddie porn that actual arrests for pedophilia or child molestation come of it.
Also, the recidivism rate is
Also, the recidivism rate is very, very low. People convicted for this sort of crime are the least likely of all criminals to repeat the same crime, or any crime.
I think William is right,
I think William is right, most of these site are based in countries like Sweden where it is not illegal to begin with. And as far as prosecuting such crimes, I imagine, and this is just a guess, it has something to do with the likes of Ted Bundy. He tried blaming his killing on becoming immune to his pornography, and when a guy starts out with this type of sick infatuation, it is worrisome that it might escalate to something more physical. Plus illegal is illegal and we need to apply the laws regardless of cost benefit, I personally would not feel comfortable if they made child porn legal just because it was cheaper than stopping it.