Friday, October 10, 2008

Marvin Bridges, of Gainesville Georgia - Convicted of Receiving and Posessing Child Pornography

Marvin D. Bridges, 37 of Gainesville, GA, was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography - after only 30 minutes of deliberation in a federal trial. Bridges now faces 5 to 30 years in prison, for his crimes.

Marvin Bridges was arrested, following a joint investigation in September '07, where federal and Georgia state authorities found thousands of sexually explicit images of children on his home computer. Many emails were retrieved, which confirmed Bridges' association with several notorious international child pornography web sites, currently on the watch-list of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Marvin Bridges is set to be sentenced December 19, 2008, by U.S. District Judge William C. O'Kelley.

"This case is a shining example of the value of coordinated, nationwide investigations," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. "This defendant’s illegal purchases of images of children being sexually exploited were identified during the prosecution of a global online purveyor of child pornography." Special Agent Kenneth Smith, of the Atlanta office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, further noted that his agency "will continue aggressively pursuing predators who think that they can hide behind the anonymity of cyberspace."

Yani Leppanen, Huntington Beach Online Child Predator, Found Guilty Of Solicitation of Minor

Yani Leppanen, a Finnish born musician living in Huntington Beach, California, was found guilty of soliciting sex online from someone he believed to be a minor. During the trial, Yani constantly smirked, making off-color jokes, and made light of the trial as he was questioned - to the dismay of even his attourney. It took a jury of four women and eight men under an hour to come to their guilty verdict, and Leppanen now faces a sentence of up to of four years in prison, for his attempt to communicate with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior.

Yani Leppanen, using the AIM online screen name 'musicmindyl', chatted with a person he believed to be a 13 year-old girl. Leppanen quickly steered the conversation to sexual topics, including his argument that sex with a minor should be allowed. He quickly started inquiring about the girl performing oral sex, comments like "I'd like to lick you from the toes on up," and eventually started making arrangements for the two to meet to have sex in Rodondo Beach, California. Luckily, Leppanen wasn't communicating with an actual under-aged girl, but Redondo Beach police Officer Alan Beck conducting a sting operation.

Leppanen is set to be sentenced on November 7, 2008.