Man Appears on Child Pornography Charges
In this morning’s [Feb 1] Supreme Court monthly arraignment session a 43-year-old man appeared in relation to fourteen counts of accessing child pornography and one count of making child pornography.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty and was represented by lawyer Elizabeth Christopher.
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Disgusting. Release his name!
There needs to be a REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER LIST in Bermuda! Sexual molestation of children is a VERY LARGE problem here in Bermuda but no one talks about it! People keep it hush hush and claim it is for the safety of the children that are molested. When in fact, sweeping it under the rug does more damage to the child-victims than anyone can imagine. Definitely keep the children’s identities safe, but the molesters need to be named, registered and made public. Are our children going to school next door to a sex offender’s house? Are our children being stared at by molesters while playing at the playground?
We all talk about keeping our children safe and steering them clear of gangs and drugs – I can tell you what type of child goes looking for the safety and companionship of gangs and who also turns to drugs – ONE THAT HAS BEEN MOLESTED!! Protecting these offenders sends a message to these poor children that “what that awful man did to you was OK – it wasn’t illegal, he didn’t even get reported.” YES IT IS ILLEGAL!
WE NEED A SEX OFFENDERS LIST PUBLISHED AND WE NEED TO SPEAK UP, NOT SHUT UP, WHEN OUR KIDS ARE MOLESTED!! THEY NEED OUR HELP!
I agree completely. A young man here was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and going to a school that was a stones through away from a primary school. Bermuda is so backwards and slow with it’s laws. So many perverts and criminals and you would never know.
AGREED!
I remember some used to keep it hush hush, as not to tarnish the name of the Church…despicable…
people like this need to be hung !!!
BY THEIR BALLS CUT OFF AND MAILED TO THEIR MOTHERS!!!!!!!!
Not to their mother’s, to other offenders awaiting execution.
I hope a centipede crawls up his penis and makes a comfy home in his balls biting for eternity and living off of a healthy nut diet.
LMBWO. A centipede. Too funny.
I hope he dies painfully*.
*Of natural causes, of course.
I understand that the minor’s anonymity needs to be protected in cases like this, but I deserve to know if I have a known child pornographer living next door to me and my family…
Or in your own home for that matter… just saying.
well, my name says it all!
oh, and its an open court. you can go and see the perp or perv or wateva you callem these days
That’s what they all say…
This is it! Rape child porn or any other sex crime the offenders identity is protected… Have a little bag of weed and face is plastered across news papers… This is Crazy! The public should know who these sex offenders are!
Pardon the grammar
It is traumatic enough to be the victim of a sexual assault or sexual crime without having your attacker’s face plastered everywhere and increasing the likelihood that people will learn that you have been the victim. I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s for the protection of the victim, not the criminal.
Are u serious? I’m sorry but if I was ever sexually assaulted by anyone I would want people to know EXACTLY WHO to avoid! Knowledge saves lives Sarah!
So many of these sex offenders come out of jail and do the same things or even worse murder! Ex. ze and the most recent pearman
Okay, here’s a solution. When the criminal gets out of jail (hopefully years down the road), THEN we put him/her on a sex offender’s registry. (I do agree that we need one of those.) “Naming and shaming” while the offender is behind bars (and let’s not forget that in Bermuda, we follow innnocent until proven guilty) satisfies people’s curiousity, NOT their desire for justice. Do you not understand that we live in a culture of victim-blaming? How many times have you heard “oh, she was asking for it, she was wearing a short skirt/she was drunk/she was in a dark alley ec”? THAT is what knowing who the victim is (and people will know as soon as the offender is named, this is Bermuda after all) leads to.
Sarah – this is about CHILDREN being molested. Drunk? Asking for it? Dressed in a short skirt? We aren’t talking about adult victims – these are children! Wearing school uniforms. Keeping our mouth shut about the molesters sends the signal to the children that what happened to them was not a punishable offence – this leads the children to feel that is was their fault. We’re talking about children who are going to need the support and love from caring adults to help them get through perhaps the darkest days of their young lives.
We’re talking about sex crimes.
The child knowing that the offender went to court SHOWS THEM THAT IT IS ILLEGAL. The child needs to know that the person who hurt them is punished, which is done by having them aware of the trial, and they DO NOT need to know that everyone in Bermuda knows what happened to them. What about that can you not understand?
The support of caring adults is another issue entirely and the most important one, but that isn’t what I was talking about. The child will probably need therapy or help from a priest/whatever regardless of whether they see their abuser’s face on the front of the paper multiple times. JFC.
Nice language Sarah. I’m not asking for the child’s identity to be released!! And yes, I know that in the process of publishing a Sex Offender’s Registry some victims’ identities might be figured out. (And I would be willing to agree not to publish names until released from prison but who is stopping anyone from attending the court sentencing and releasing the names themselves – creating their own list?) Most importantly, and this is the point you are MISSING is that this isn’t just about the ONE CHILD that these molesters get caught molesting, IT IS ABOUT THE MANY MORE THAT HE WILL MOLEST IN THE FUTURE!! THAT IS A WELL-DOCUMENTED FACT! I want to know who to protect my children from!
frankly, on an island this small, i think naming the person before they’ve even had a trial is a big mistake.
firstly, who says the victims want their names all over the place…
secondly, this is not necessarily “girls in their uniforms”. some minors can act very adult… not that this is an excuse and an adult should definitely know the difference… but in my opinion statutory offences with a mid-late teen is not as gruesome as with pre-teens…still criminal tho..
thirdly, on an island where gossip and reputation dictate lives, releasing the name of someone without proving they’ve done it is a very bad idea. We’ve even had names listed as suspects, but with different person’s pictures attached, and V.V., we’ve had the correct suspect’s picture shown, with an incorrect name…. things happen..
fourth, if we do get a sex registry (which i agree with), we need to make sure it is not cut/paste/black/white. The number of stories in the states of two minor’s engaging in sexual activity and one being arrested for it, or an 18yr old adult with a 16-17 yr old minor and the elder getting arrested happens too often in teh states… with that person ending up with the same reputation as a violent rapist.
A priest is the very *last* person a victim of sexual abuse should be referred to.
Omg u irritate my whole life…. No one needs to know who the victim is AT ALL or whatever relationship the offender may or may not have with the victim…. I NEVER EVER once mentioned anything about the victim? Can you read Sarah? Can you? I stated we Need to who the OFFENDERS are. Point Blank! And We need to know WELL BEFORE they are allow to rejoin society!
Sarah – you’ve lost your mind. Children NEED to see that their molester has been punished. They need to see that he was convicted. They need to know that he is behind bars and far away from ever molesting them again. Do you think they should wander around the island not knowing if their molester is walking down the street behind them, driving their school bus, cleaning the hallways of their school? What a horrible quality of life for those children – always having to watch their back? That’s an awful thought! Publish the molester’s names and make posters of them wearing their Westgate outfits!
IT IS THERAPEUTIC FOR THESE YOUNG VICTIMS!! THEY ARE OUR CHILDREN, THEY NEED OUR HELP!
It’s therapeutic for the child/victim to know that their abuser has been punished, which is the RESULT OF THE TRIAL, not of knowing that the entire island knows their story. The victims are privy to the knowledge that the conviction has occured, and knowing that they can feel safer, as you said (and I agree) they should.
What happens in the case where the abuser is the child’s father? Will punishing the pedophile make the child feel any better? I very much doubt it. It seems much more likely that the child is going to be conflicted about this. There truly is no good outcome in such a case – all we can hope for is that the child gets sympathetic, qualified therapy. Unfortunately, I suspect the environment they’re in, even with the pedophile out of the way, is often anything but supportive.
err.. how do you know its therapeutic?? do you know if they like all that you say? or if htey just want to put it in the past? we dont know for one thing..
also, im sure the victims are well aware of the guy’s name.. and well aware of whether they are behind bars at the moment.. just because they hvaent reported it to us, doesnt mean the victims arent privy to the info.
at the end of the day..this was an arraignment… not a trial. Bermuda is notorius for finding guilt as soon as someone is arrested… he’ll im guilty of it too. If we listed someone’s name as a molester, and even if they were found factually innocent (let alone just “not guilty”), that stigma would still be near impossible to shake. Even if it was proven that the suspect was in freaking russia during the crime, we would still assume he bent through a loophole somehow. its just the way our small island works.
Sorry Sarah I simply disagree!
They could simply omit information about the relationship to the victim. This makes it easy to name the perpetrator.
Once this individual is convicted of this crime you will know who they are…their name will be released.
See above.
In the US or Canada the mug shot from the LEOs is provided to the press. Whether you are guilty or not, your face & name are out there.
Withholding who the perp is “for legal reasons” has to be changed. No need to identify the child/children.
Co-sign
Let him be proven guilty first, innit?
Ok. So Triangle has been drifting. Cool. “LEO’s”….clarrify please.
I am a “Cancer”. …..
Terry as a resident of the US you, before any Bermudian, should recognise what a LEO is: Law Enforcement Officer/Officers/office.
Just trying to be politically correct.
Sarah…..its the same when even family members do not want to speak up and want to keep names under wraps. This only hurts the child more. Anyone who is found GUILTY or child pornography, rape, molestation etc should be made public….stop protecting the criminal and making the victim feel like they have done wrong
No, they should be PUNISHED. That helps provide closure for the victim. Can you imagine being the child and knowing that everyone knows you’ve been abused? Children are cruel, I can easily envision someone bullying them for that. Our culture blames the victim.
Now, once the offender is out of jail, THEN their name should appear on a registry so that people can take the necessary precautions around him/her.
I was a child and everyone knew but EVERYONE wanted to protect the individual. It should have been made public because then it would not have happened to other people. This happens to so many boys and girls people in bermuda but people are afraid to speak out about it, or you have family members trying to safe their “name”. It should have been made public from the very beginging, and maybe other people could have spoken out about the same person and been prosecuted. If there is no “proof” its just your word against theres, and if no one is supporting you then………..
Trust me, I understand very well the problems the victim faces in cases like this. The point is that the proof has to determine guilt, not the court of public opinion. It is awful that there are so many cases that go unreported/unprosecuted, but naming the person before they have been tried and served their time is not the answer. What would help tremendously is to have teachers trained (and retrained regularly) to spot signs of abuse, and to have an anonymous way to report it directly to the cops. In my experience, the police that make up the sex offender’s prosecution unit are largely non-Bermudian, which should make it easier to get the case to prosecution. The onus is on the family/friends of the victim who comes forward to ensure that other children are protected eg “did uncle Johnny ever make you feel uncomfortable” and questions along that line.
BDA – I am so sorry to hear your story. I am so sorry that everyone was protecting the molester and not you – which is so often the case. I am sorry that this person went on to hurt other children. I wish this had never happened to you but you are brave to speak out about it and to bring it to this forum. You are right, this is happening all over Bermuda – people are covering up for their family members, friends, neighbors. This needs to stop before more children have stories to tell like you. Chin up – this was NOT YOUR FAULT. I wish you the best and I hope that some day Bermuda realizes the extent of this problem and creates outlets for victims to get the help they need.
Thanks…..
I just wish that I had realized all of this when I was younger. It just upsets me to know that things like this still go on and you hear how people choose certain individuals over their children.
The biggest problem was that no one spoke about it, I never knew that other children that I went to school with and played with had been through the same thing. If I would have known, I would not have felt like it was my fault, I would have been able to speak out about it.
Innocent until proven guilty…..Yes. BUT there needs to be a registry with all offenders even from the past. At least parents can try to protect their children.
I believe it should be made public too… but what you’ve said doesnt apply here..
“anyone who is found GUILTY..”
… no one has been found anything here… so this case does not apply to your assertion.
The only reason the man’s name is withheld is because he has not been convicted of anything (innocent until proven guilty theory). Whilst I agree that Bermuda needs to have a registered sex offenders list I also understand why at this point in the proceedings his name remains anonymous. Even though we are all saddened and disgusted (myself included) by the charges against the defendant there is still the remote possibility that he is the wrong person, or some of the charges are unfounded, incorrect, or simply untrue. I trust that the police have enough evidence to convict the man but we need to let the court system do its job before revealing the man’s name. Just to be clear I AM IN NO WAY CONDONING THE ALLEGED ACTIONS OF THE DEFENDANT but if we release the names of individuals prior to their convictions it will allow for vexatious claims to come out were people make falsify stories and make false accusations and a man’s name is put in the dirt for it only to find out at a later date that he committed no wrong (this does happen).
Until his conviction I am fine with not knowing who it is but if convicted I suggest the entire front page of the RG have his picture so that the whole world knows how sick the man really is.
big co-sign
Bravo!
Little too late if this is the same case from before Christmas I do believe his name has already been released as a matter of fact if it is the same person he was shown on the evening news. How many X police officers do they have up on child pornography right now if it is only one then they are one in the same.
Meanwhile back at the Ranch……They’ll let you know who “Little Johnny” is from “around the way” who they stopped for speeding at 60kph and when they searched him he had a spliff in his left pocket so they gave him a fine of %350 with 5 demerits!!! I don’t give a rats A*&! whose smoking but I would like to know if a “pervert” lives here!!!!!
It is what it is has a good point. We speak to them everyday. They watch over our children, they serve us in many ways.
As for “Young Lawer”. Well of course you are. Your gonna get paid, even though everyone knows who is paying you without a libel et al suit.
jeeze, If the guy got caught red handed then wat the heck defense does he have? Prosecution Dept should have descretion in these matters. Caught redhanded? Heck yeah put his (or her if its a she perv) name out there
I HAVE THE SOLUTION FOR THE WHOLE THING WHICH WOULD FIX THE ISSUE DONT TELL US WHO THEY ARE IF YOU WANT TO HIDE THEM BEHIND SOME LEGAL BULL –INVESTIGATE THEM,TRY THEM,CONVICT THEM,AND KILL THEM ALL IN PRIVATE WHICH WILL REMOVE THE POSSIBILITY OF THEM EVER DOING IT AGAIN IN PRIVATE PROTECTED BY A LAW ALLOWING THEM TO REMAIN UNKNOWN PRETENDING IT IS IN THE BEST INTERST OF THE VICTIM—–It is a fact that the damage of everyone knowing that someone was molested is far less then the damage caused when the offender is allowed to remain around our children committing these offences over and over
I hope a centipede crawls up his shaft and makes a comfy home in his balls biting for eternity and living off of a healthy nut diet.
Ah!!! We have some dialogue. This is great. Feelings are comming out without really the screams and shout. Karma too all that partook of this……
Were making progress.
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Unless you read more into those 2 sentences at the top on this page than I did, it was only an arraignment session.
If he is found guilty, then do all that stuff you said… but really, there should be a sex offender registry and the public should know if there is someone on the registry living in their neighbourhood.
In the US for ALL crimes, faces, names and their mug shots are made public, sometimes even during the arrest they are shown…guilty or not!
the US also arrests 15 year olds with nude pics of their 15yr old bf/gf’s and charge them with possession of child porn..
just cause the US does it doesnt mean its a good idea..
then you have this:
http://www.cbs59.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=52756
and this:
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/08/05/two-15-year-old-girls-flash-passing-motorists-in-florida-one-man-takes-picture-and-is-arrested-for-possession-of-child-porn-and-contributing-to-delinquency-of-a-minor/
Just to be clear, we need to ensure that a sex offenders register is fair.
There’s a big difference between what this guy allegedly did and an 18 year old on a statutory rape charge because he banged his girlfriend one month before her 16th birthday.
In our rush to punish and inform we need to exercise caution.