News
Teenager booked on porn charges
Published: Jun 16, 2003 - 03:18 PM
A 16-year-old Kenner boy has been booked on child pornography charges after a tip from a national children's advocacy group led to a search of a computer in his home, authorities said Thursday.
Police would not identify the teen because he is a juvenile, but officials said he allegedly created and maintained a Web site of the material from the home computer.
Police would not identify the teen because he is a juvenile, but officials said he allegedly created and maintained a Web site of the material from the home computer.
The teen was booked late last week. Detectives continue to investigate the case, sorting through the 500-odd images allegedly found on the teen's computer, to determine whether more charges will be filed, said Capt. Steve Caraway, Kenner police spokesman.
Although cases of child pornography are not uncommon, a juvenile's alleged involvement in such a felony makes this case unusual, Caraway said.
Detective Marc Ortiz, who recently was assigned full-time to Internet crime cases, examined the teen's computer hard drive and disks, and allegedly found images depicting boys as young as 7 years old performing sexual acts, Caraway said. Detectives have not found any pornographic photographs of the teen, and police do not think any of the pictured boys are from Kenner, Caraway said.
The investigation began in early June, when Kenner police learned from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a child pornography Web site was possibly originating from Kenner, Caraway said.
The center in Virginia, which works to recover missing children and prevent their sexual exploitation, learned of the Web site from its Internet tip line, Caraway said.
After a brief investigation, Detective Robert McGraw determined that the site allegedly originated at the teen's home, obtained search warrants and "learned that the 16-year-old was responsible for the site," Caraway said.
Detectives do not think the teen was making money from the site, Caraway said. Police suspect the teen set up the site at least four months ago with images he already had. The teen allegedly expanded the site to more than 500 photographs by downloading images his Web visitors shared, Caraway said.
The teen's parents were unaware of the Web site, which has been shut down, Caraway said.
Although cases of child pornography are not uncommon, a juvenile's alleged involvement in such a felony makes this case unusual, Caraway said.
Detective Marc Ortiz, who recently was assigned full-time to Internet crime cases, examined the teen's computer hard drive and disks, and allegedly found images depicting boys as young as 7 years old performing sexual acts, Caraway said. Detectives have not found any pornographic photographs of the teen, and police do not think any of the pictured boys are from Kenner, Caraway said.
The investigation began in early June, when Kenner police learned from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a child pornography Web site was possibly originating from Kenner, Caraway said.
The center in Virginia, which works to recover missing children and prevent their sexual exploitation, learned of the Web site from its Internet tip line, Caraway said.
After a brief investigation, Detective Robert McGraw determined that the site allegedly originated at the teen's home, obtained search warrants and "learned that the 16-year-old was responsible for the site," Caraway said.
Detectives do not think the teen was making money from the site, Caraway said. Police suspect the teen set up the site at least four months ago with images he already had. The teen allegedly expanded the site to more than 500 photographs by downloading images his Web visitors shared, Caraway said.
The teen's parents were unaware of the Web site, which has been shut down, Caraway said.
