Child Pornography Ring in RI 17 Arrested

RI Criminal Defense Attorney John MacDonald reposts an article from the Providence Journal regarding the arrest of 17 suspects in connection with a child pornography ring in RI after a statewide sweep across the Internet. The full article follows below.

17 arrested in child porn raids

August 19, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Seventeen Rhode Islanders, including a co-owner of a popular reptile store and a city maintenance manager, face charges of possession of child pornography after state, federal and local law-enforcement agencies executed search warrants across the state early Wednesday.

“Today’s sweep ... had one objective: to protect children,” U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha said at an afternoon news conference.

The arrests came after an undercover online investigation by a state police task force aimed at fighting Internet crimes against children, in conjunction with state and federal prosecutors.

Dubbed Operation Safe Child, the months-long probe identified 20 Rhode Island residences involved in actively obtaining and sharing pornographic images involving children, according to the state police.

The state police targeted the users exchanging the highest volume of child pornography using a software program that searched peer-to-peer, or file-sharing, networks, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said. Investigators then secured downloads, often of images involving young children and even infants, from the suspects by persuading them over the Internet to share a pornographic file, according to the state police.

The police got search warrants for the residences based on the downloads and retrieved thousands of photographs and videos featuring child pornography. More than 70 authorities executed the warrants Wednesday morning.

“These images are so vile and disgusting,” Lynch said at a news conference late Wednesday.

It appears at this point that no Rhode Island children were featured in the images, state police Col. Brendan P. Doherty said. But investigators will continue looking at pursuing possible child-pornography manufacturing and trafficking charges, said Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Boston office.

Neronha noted that the detectives had to view very disturbing images in the course of the investigation. “It takes a toll on police and prosecutors to work this,” he said.

Those facing a charge of possession of child pornography include Shawn Fay, 39, of 1023 Danielson Pike, North Scituate, a co-owner of Regal Reptiles in Providence and Little League coach, and Miguel Escobedo, 38, a maintenance manager for the City of Providence, state police Capt. David Neill said.

Two juveniles were also arrested.

Kyle Martin, 22, of 31 Willis Drive, Cumberland, was charged with possession of steroids and does not face a child-pornography charge.

With the exception of Girard Proux, 43, of 522 York Ave., Pawtucket, all of the adults arrested were released on $5,000 personal recognizance after arraignment or appearances before a bail commissioner. Proux was released on $5,000 bail with surety.

The state police Internet Crimes Against Children task force is funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant. It’s made up of state police detectives as well as detectives from the Providence, West Warwick and Coventry police departments and an ICE agent. Other agencies to participate in Wednesday’s raids were ICE, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, and probation and parole officials. Child protective services workers from the state Department of Children, Youth and Families and the Children’s Advocacy Center also assisted.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY RAIDS
Arrested in Operation Safe Child

Michael Wallace, 24, of 24 Marion Ave., Pascoag

Alan Alarcon, 18, of 75 Commodore St., Providence

Robert MacGregor, 48, of 522 York Ave., Unit 3, Pawtucket

Girard Proux, 43, of 522 York Ave., Unit 3, Pawtucket

George Dubuque III, 21, of 3521 Post Rd., Wakefield

Jeffrey Earl, 22, of 364 Curtis Corner Rd., Unit B25, Peace Dale

Paul Hutchinson, 27, of 21 Allen Ave., Barrington

Joshua Page, 18, of 8 Swinburne St., Jamestown

Kyle Bannister, 19, 142 Kenyon Hill Trail, Richmond

Michael Woodard, 19, of 127 Murray Ave., North Kingstown

Jason Biondi, 35, of 84 Fales St., Apt. 206, Central Falls

Jason Demelo, 33, of 24 Delaware Ave., Warwick

Cory Bergeron, 19, of 10 Clark Mill Rd., Coventry

Shawn Fay, 39, of 1023 Danielson Pike, North Scituate

Miguel Escobedo, 38, of 208 Early St., Providence

Two 17-year-old juveniles, of Pascoag and West Warwick, not named because of their age

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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Criminal Defense, Divorce, or Immigration Law in RI contact Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer John E. MacDonald at 401-421-1440.

To learn more about The Law Office of John MacDonald, please visit his website at AggressiveLegalServices.com.

URI Rape Trial Comes to a Close

Via the Associated Press article below, RI Criminal Defense Lawyer John MacDonald notes the outcome of a high-profile sexual assault case that was decided by a jury last week.

2 URI students acquitted of sexual assault

The Associated Press
July 29, 2010, 3:49PM

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — Two former University of Rhode Island students have been found not guilty of raping another student in a campus dorm almost two years ago.

The jury returned its verdict Thursday after about an hour and half of deliberations.

Jurors rejected the prosecution's case that Yaw Peprah (yah pep-RAH') of Lincoln and Estifanos Gizaw (eh-stuh-FAHN'-ohs GEE'-zaw) of Houston, Texas, had used "force and coercion" to rape a freshman student after a party involving alcohol and marijuana.

Peprah's lawyer suggested in closing arguments that the woman who accused the men did so because of embarrassment over having sex with them at the party. Attorney Roy Fowler said she did not call for help or attempt to leave the dorm suite.

Fowler had said earlier that a university judicial board cleared the men.



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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Criminal Defense, Divorce, or Immigration Law in RI contact Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer John E. MacDonald at 401-421-1440.

To learn more about The Law Office of John MacDonald, please visit his website at AggressiveLegalServices.com.

URI Rape Case Defendant Testifies He Had Consentual Sex

Sexual assault in RI is characterized by the act of engaging in any sexual penetration using coercion or force, or if the victim is determined to be mentally disabled, physically helpless, or mentally incapacitated and the accused is aware of that fact. There are varying degrees of this charge, however they all carry with them a serious felony conviction if you are found guilty as a defendant.

The following article from the Providence Journal regarding a URI student who has claimed she was raped by another student is pertinent as a sexual assault matter.

Defendant in Sexual Assault Case Testifies that Woman Agreed to Sex

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

By Michael P. McKinney

Journal Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Yaw Peprah, one of two University of Rhode Island students on trial for alleged sexual assaults of a woman in a dorm, testified Tuesday that he asked twice that night if she wanted to have sex and that she indicated she did.

The testimony contradicted that of the woman who accuses Peprah and Estifanos Gizaw of separate sexual assaults between midnight and 2 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2008.

Peprah said that the night of Sept. 13 he met her at the party in the Wiley Hall dormitory and they engaged in small talk. And they talked about a difficult math class he was taking, said Peprah, of Lincoln, an engineering student at URI.

The woman, he said, brought marijuana to the dorm suite and she and a few others, including Peprah, went outside the dormitory to smoke a joint she had rolled. The woman said Peprah could take in some smoke by kissing her after she inhaled, Peprah testified, and he said he kissed her.

The group got calzones to take back to eat in the dorm suite. Under questioning by defense lawyer Roy Fowler, Peprah testified he and the woman “were kissing and touching” on an elevator to the third floor and in the dorm suite’s common room. Peprah testified he asked if she wanted to have sex, and she said that was OK.

Eventually, Peprah went into the bedroom with the woman and, he said, they sat on the bed, talking, kissing and touching. He said he asked again if she wanted to have sex and she indicated she did.

Fowler, Peprah’s lawyer, asked if another defense witness, Oluwadamilola Adewale, who goes by Henry, had said anything to Peprah that night and whether Peprah did anything as a result.

“It came to mind I should ask” the woman “a couple of times if it’s OK to have sex,” Peprah said. What Adewale told Peprah was not brought out before the jury.

Peprah said he and the woman took their clothes off, and she asked if he had a condom. He put on clothes and got a condom from Gizaw in the hallway and returned to the room, but the condom broke. The woman said a friend had given her a condom, Peprah testified, and he got it from her bag.

The woman said she was OK when, at one point, two other women knocked at the door and came in to see how she was doing, Peprah testified.

The Journal does not identify people who authorities say were victims of sexual assault.

mmckinne@projo.com
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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Criminal Defense, Divorce, or Immigration Law in RI contact Rhode Island Criminal Defense Lawyer John E. MacDonald at 401-421-1440.

To learn more about The Law Office of John MacDonald, please visit his website at AggressiveLegalServices.com.