Judge Too Soft On Kiddie-Porn Addict

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A federal appeals court says U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich of Cleveland was inexplicably lenient when she sentenced a convicted kiddie-porn addict to spend ''an afternoon with the U.S. Marshal's Office" and probation rather than sending him to prison for up to 33 months. The offender, who lives in Mansfield, Ohio, is in his 30s and was caught by federal agents investigating international Internet child pornography.

U.S. Circuit Judge Damon A. Keith of Detroit called the original November 2005 sentence ''ureasonable" and said Aldrich made no showing of how her action would deter the offender, whose home computer contained material from Web sites displaying children in salacious activities. The sites had names like "Childrape" and ''Russian Preteens" and "Youngest Teens Hardcore." Court records show the offender charged $30,000 on his credit card over three years to view pay-for-porn Internet sites. Government lawyers said the addiction led him to file bankruptcy in 2002. There was also some evidence he had psychological proclivities towards pedophelia.

''We believe that the circumstances presented in this case -- particularly the possibility that [the defendant] may re-offend -- merit the district court's reconsideration of how a one-day sentence deters him from future crimes and protects the public from future crime,'' Keith wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which is based in Cincinnati. ''If these factors were in fact considered by the district court, the record is devoid of such reasoning."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Becker of Akron was the prosecutor and Anthony J. Vegh of Cleveland was the defense lawyer. (Case No. 05-4648.) Vegh said his client expressed remorse over his compulsion to view kiddie porn.

Judge Aldrich's probation order seemed to note that the defendant was risky to put back on the street. She also said he probably would be victimized in prison.

The probation order said the offender "shall not associate of have verbal, written, telephone or electronic communication with person under the age of 18, except (1) in the presence of the parent or legal guardian of said minor, and (2) on the condition that the defendant notifies such parent of his conviction in the instant case."