DOCUMENT: Crime

Gullible Kiddy Porn Fan Busted

Feds: New Jerseyan ordered films from phony government filth catalog

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Gullible Kiddy Porn Fan Busted

SEPTEMBER 9--Last fall, Richard Leitenberger received an unsolicited letter at his New Jersey home offering him a catalog listing kiddy porn films. Addressed "Hello Friend!," the missive from JMG Products in Charlotte, North Carolina noted that the catalog featured "taboo, very rare, forbidden and ILLEGAL MATERIAL" and assured that, "we are NOT a law enforcement officer."

If Leitenberger wanted the catalog, the letter asked him to confirm that he, also, was not a cop or "trying to set us up." After assuring the firm that, "I am not affiliated with any law enforcement agency," Leitenberger, 40, received the catalog and later ordered nine films, mailing JMG a $180 Western Union money order for the illicit titles.

When Leitenberger went to his post office box to pick up the videos in mid-July, he was arrested by federal agents who had ensnared him in a carefully orchestrated (and rather involved) sting.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Leitenberger was targeted by U.S. Postal Inspection Services agents as a result of his name turning up, years ago, as a customer of an online "global child pornography enterprise." The complaint, an excerpt of which you'll find here, details the government ruse, which involved an undercover P.O. box and a Yahoo! e-mail address from which Inspector Khary Freeland corresponded with Leitenberger.

An online search shows that the fed's undercover e-mail [email protected] included in 15 newsgroup postings between February and May. Those postings, which were found via a Google Groups search, advertised a collection of "preteen" videos ("HOT !!! YOUNG !!! AND PINK !!!") and an "ALL NEW PRIVATE HARDCORE COLLECTION...DVDS ENCRYPTED FOR YOUR SECURITY. THE YOUNGEST !!! THE HOTTEST !!! AND THE SWEETEST !!!"

It is unclear whether the government's postings in newsgroups like alt.sex.stories.incest netted any other prospective criminal defendants. (11 pages)

Comments (1)

How about cleaning up the closet perverts in the US Congress first...