Posted on 02/09/2006 6:14:17 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO – A pedophile who was part of the international child pornography ring that exchanged videos and photos of themselves molesting children was sentenced Thursday to more than 467 years to life in state prison.
Paul Whitmore, a former counselor for autistic children, was convicted Nov. 30 of 51 felony charges, including committing a lewd act on a child, aggravated sexual assault on a child, posing a minor for pictures involving sexual conduct for commercial purposes and attempting to dissuade a witness from reporting a crime.
The verdicts included special allegations of bondage, sodomy, sexual penetration, oral copulation and multiple victims.
One of Whitmore's photos showed a tied-up 9-year-old drinking water out of a cat bowl, said prosecutor Jeffrey Dort.
"He used children to satisfy himself," Dort told Judge Gale Kaneshiro. "His premeditated crime is worse than the person who murders on instinct."
Whitmore's crimes included eight victims, none of whom were students at Stein Education Center in Grantville, where he worked.
The victims who were forced to testify at trial were put through hell, Dort told the judge.
He said Whitmore, 47, had shown no remorse for his crimes.
"We can only assume from that ... the worst," the prosecutor said.
Before she pronounced sentence, Kaneshiro denied Whitmore's motions for a new trial and to impose one life sentence.
The evidence presented to the jury was "graphic, shocking and overwhelming," the judge said.
Kaneshiro said the photos and videos produced by Whitmore was the most incriminating evidence to prove his guilt.
She called Whitmore a sexual abuser, child molester and pedophile who documented his sexual assaults through video and photographs.
"He is a pedophile by self examination and self declaration," the judge said of Whitmore. "He is the worst that I have ever sentenced."
Whitmore acted on his sexual impulses, molesting children of both sexes, Kaneshiro said.
In denying probation on some counts, the judge said rehabilitation for the defendant was not feasible.
Kaneshiro said she imposed consecutive sentences on many of the counts because the degree of cruelty and callousness went above and beyond similar crimes of violence.
Whitmore also induced others in the pornography ring to molest children, the judge said.
Over several years, Whitmore "groomed" a number of children – including one he was a caretaker for – into a "circle of hell," in which they were molested and had their photos taken and posted on the Internet, Dort said.
The defendant's desire to have sex with children was topped only by his passion to create a library of child pornography that was distributed around the world, the prosecutor said.
Dort pulled out a pair of handcuffs, a black leather restraint and rope that Whitmore used on his young victims, calling the defendant a "monster."
"He showed porn to children in his own house," Dort told the judge. "The crime fits the punishment."
Another man, Brooke Rowland, pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Whitmore and Rowland, a 44-year-old former ad salesman from Poway, were among 25 people arrested in North America and Europe in April 2002 in connection with "Operation Hamlet."
The child porn ring focused on individuals authorities said were distributing photos and videos on the Internet of themselves molesting children as young as 3 years old in 2000 and 2001.
A watchdog group in Sweden surfing the Web identified an offender and notified police in Denmark, Dort said earlier.
More than 100 children were identified as being abused during the investigation, and 45 of them were taken out of offenders' homes, the prosecutor said.
It will be down to 60 days once the appeals reach the 9th circus!!
So what is the over/under on how long this guy survives in General Pop.? I say he is dead in less than 3 months.
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/2683081/detail.html
Here's a photo of the pair.
I often see comments that a sadistic ba$tard like this will get just deserts in prison. However, I don't see many news articles about it happening. I wonder if there's some place online that would shed highlights on this kind of stuff?
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
"Do you possess a 68?"
I had a 68 Skylark :)
One of NAMBLA's (North American Man Boy Love Association) objectives is the repeal of age of consent laws.
NAMBLA Home Page: http://216.220.97.17/
Here is a link to an ACLU page, where they are defending the “rights” of two murderers, both gay, of a 10 year old boy. One was possession of NAMBLA material: http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/Rage/NAMBLARAGEPAGE.html
Here are two links that discuss NAMBLA and pedophilia: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27431\
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Sodomy/nambla_exposed.htm
Here is a news story about 7 NAMBA members that got busted in a sex sting. Two were teachers. They were planning a trip to Mexico to have sex with boys as young as 8: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147645,00.html
Here is a story where NAMBLA was busted for illegally using a non-profit organization as a front to promote its goals: http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/NudistHallofShame/NAMBLA.html
They've also been profiled on America's Most Wanted.
I have a feeling that death will be coming soon enough. Hopefully it will be a long tortuous process.
I've heard elsewhere that this is largely an urban legend, that there is no "honor among thieves" in prison.
His biggest sin was he made money off the venture.
(OK, OK, you can stop throwing the rocks at me now. That is a sick joke. At the expense of liberals.)
How could so many children get thus assaulted before anybody noticed -- and even then, the way that it was noticed was by the sheer volume of garbage he was putting out on the internet?
Trust me, it's no urban legend.
"truuuuuuuuuuuuuuust me"
Show me the news stories
Cool, I had a 64' Wildcat.
I'm not going to hunt down news stories when I see it firsthand.
And I am Napoleon Bonaparte.
Whatever.
,,, the real crime is in the sentence itself. How much money will it cost to keep this creton jailed? A group of interested parties kicking him to death would be very quick and cost effective.
This guy will be performing many BJ's just to stay alive in the short term - eventually he will overstay his welcome with the homo pervs and will be tagged - meaning carved, dead and bloated within 18 months.
I did a short research at Google. Couldn't find stats for rape of child molesters. I did find the rate of state prison rapes was 0.5 per 1,000 inmates (Aug 05 report).
http://feministing.com/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=1718
We'd have to know the rate for incarcerated child molesters, which I couldn't find, in order to see how many of those perverts were being raped in prison. I still don't think it's a high number.
Oh well, it's not an important issue in my life. But prison rape of any kind is horrible and should NEVER be allowed.
Maybe not. Whatever happens, it will "be alone" and nobody will be blamed. He'll fall down 45 flights of stairs in a two story wing of the prison.....something like that.
My God, I keep thinking of all the victims. My God help them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.