A cautionary tale. I just returned from UK where a close friend told me about the fate of a close contact of his. A Brit living in US for the last 5 years and working as a very senior exec of a multi-national returned to US after a quick business trip to Europe and was promptly arrested at JFK. Simulataneously the Feds were battering down the front door of his New England mansion to seize his hard drive and dvds. Turns out this respecteable married father of grown up kids was a leading member of a child porn ring, and the Feds had been monitoring him for 18 months before pouncing. He claims (and I think they accept) it was all fantasy....i.e he only watched but never had any contact with kids, but because he forwarded and disseminated, they got him with about a dozen othes in the same group. He was fired and will plead guilty, and faces 5 to 20 years in US jail, the end of his marriage, the loss of his house (to pay off mortgage) possible seizure of any remaining assets, and public shame. What started as the sort of porn surfing we all do, lead to discovery and getting hooked on child porn...and ultimate ruin. This has all been reported in UK press so is public knowledge......but if any of you guys are tempted,,,,beware, big brother is watching. One of the syndicate members for those 18 months was a Fed cop plant. I tend to think he may have a case to claim entrapment....but I dont know the full story.
Post Script. He got 6 years !
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