Need help from Surly Community

[0xdeadbeef 1645]

3 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Also, it seems that my friend has been cooperating from the very beginning with law enforcement which may not have been the smartest thing to do.  He admitted clicking on a link instead of saying that wasn’t me or that was someone renting my house at around the time the incident happened or my IP address got hacked, etc. He is super honest and trusts law enforcement because he has family members in law enforcement.  We are on different ends of the political spectrum as well and have had debates about this.  

Talking to the police is bad, lying to the police is worse.

Seems like a good time to re-post this:

I have 4 kids now in the 19-25 range.  When they were in high school, I _required_ them to watch that video and regurgitate back to me what was in it.  It's never a bad idea for adults to rewatch it. 

tldr; The first rule about police is you don't talk to the police.

[Clarence Worley 22]

When I was talking to my wife this morning, sorry ya’ll no pics for you thirsty bastards, she felt helpless and it tore me up.  I had to do something’.  I’m still relatively young but I’m wise enough to know that friends and family take precedence over everything.  It is situations like like this that really test your character. 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

I followed a case like this about ten years ago: guy was a meteorologist for BP, big house up in Kingwood, two kids, reasonably hot wife, seemed normal on social media, lots of old friends, and WHAM -- busted one day in possession of / distributing enough kiddy porn to send him to prison for several decades. (He must have been some kind of kingpin or the shit must have been really vile or both)

His wife had some bullshit job so she had to fend for herself and the kids after that.

Around that same time there was another case up in Highland Park where it was the woman who was into kiddy pornt and apparently hubs did not know. 

So...as the late great Houston Astro Joaquin Andujar once put it "There is a word in English for things like this and that word is junebberknow"

[Clarence Worley 22]

Thanks @Oxdeadbeef.  You’ve shared some really good advice on this thread as well.  

[Captainant 27620]

3 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Also, it seems that my friend has been cooperating from the very beginning with law enforcement which may not have been the smartest thing to do.  He admitted clicking on a link instead of saying that wasn’t me or that was someone renting my house at around the time the incident happened or my IP address got hacked, etc. He is super honest and trusts law enforcement because he has family members in law enforcement.  We are on different ends of the political spectrum as well and have had debates about this.  

It's unfortunate that your friend is getting this lesson in not talking to the cops this way. Cops don't give a fuck about right or wrong, they just want skins to put on the wall. Individual officers may be decent folks, but their department is full of shitheads. 

I hope gatoroubet and twice are right and it's just a botched investigation by the cops, but it also sounds like there's a part or two of the story missing. Your buddy is lucky to have a friend looking out for him and giving him the benefit of the doubt

Edited January 15, 2023 by Captainant

[Clarence Worley 22]

@MaybeACoordinator, I’m with you.  However, my friend is not wealthy and he and his wife are living paycheck to paycheck.  He doesn’t have a side hustle that we are aware of.  And if he did and we and others in the community found out, he knows he would be ruined.  His wife is a teacher at a local elementary school and they are very involved in the local community.  Even ran a charity event to provide gifts to underprivileged kids in the local community over the holidays.  I could be the one that’s being duped and it hasn’t happened before, but there is always a first time.

[Clarence Worley 22]

Thanks @Captainant.  last few weeks have been tough.  Thought I was going to lose my mom over the holidays, my wife just had a tumor the size of a golf ball removed from one of her glands the other day after I acted like a complete asshole about having to take care of her for an extended period of time, half of my team may be fired because my boss wants me to rebuild the team, and now one of my best friends has been charged with a horrific crime that is instant ruination in our society.  Trying to be the best version of myself I can be right now.  It ain’t easy  

[Clarence Worley 22]

Btw to keep this Surly relevant, my friend whose kids have been around our other friend ran into Brian Cushing the other night at a local eatery.  I asked my friend if he asked Brian Cushing how Vince Young’s nuts taste.  😝

[ztejas 43411]

This site really is one of the most interesting places on the internet. 

[Clarence Worley 22]

Couldn’t agree with you more @ztejas.  It is why I decided to post here.  Most message boards make you feel dumber after reading posts and replies but SurlyHorns has some of the most thoughtful and intelligent posters that I’ve come across.

I am a class of 2000 graduate btw.  Another big win for the our basketball team!  Hook ‘em!

[ztejas 43411]

1 minute ago, Clarence Worley said:

SurlyHorns has some of the most thoughtful and intelligent posters that I’ve come across.

You may be on the wrong site. 

[SKJ 1311]

Advice on friends: don't have them.

Advice on getting arrested: shut the fuck up and don't answer a single question without a lawyer present.

Advice on kiddie porn possession: it's probably not easy to come by 

Advice on trusting a "friend" who gets knocked for having kiddie porn that's not easy to come by: don't do it... You shouldn't have friends, anyway.

I don't know much about pedophiles, other than knowing that they're going to be put in p.c. if they do any time, but i do know about criminals, and they always have a story about how it wasn't their fault, and how there is some crazy conspiracy to catch them... But what the fuck are they doing in the situation?

No one is ever guilty. But guilt doesn't matter in court... It's what they can prove. And dumbass is already taking so he's locked into his story, so it better be the one that saves him because he's there's no other alternative.

Just so you know, your lawyer can create doubt in a million ways and provide hundreds of stories that would tend to be exculpatory... But a defendant only gets one shot and that's how story forever on record.

But who knows, maybe he's the one innocent creep that got some random email that they clicked on?

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by SKJ
Speeling ees haard

[Clarence Worley 22]

Lmao.  I left out “and the most diabolical and deranged yet magnificent assholes.”

[Clarence Worley 22]

Agree with you @SKJ.  It is hard to get through life without friends though.  There are times in your life when you need a friend to avoid absolute tragedy and you can never predict when that time will be.  I’m learning that more and more as I get older.

If my friend had a criminal record, I wouldn’t believe him at all.  Also, he wouldn’t be my friend.  But he doesn’t have a criminal record.  The dude is in his mid-50s.  I can’t imagine that he would wake up one day as he is getting close the retirement and decide to be a pedophile.  Anything is possible, but there is not a history of this kind of behavior. 

 

[Hate 20106]

4 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Lmao.  Wife is actually pretty attractive for her age.  Would love to post a pic, and I do know the rules.  🤪  given this situation though, it is not appropriate.  Sorry you horny animals.  🤪

Is his wife also underage?

[Clarence Worley 22]

My friend is not Matt Gaetz.  I repeat, my friend is not Matt Gaetz.  

[SKJ 1311]

2 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Agree with you @SKJ.  It is hard to get through life without friends though.  There are times in your life when you need a friend to avoid absolute tragedy and you can never predict when that time will be.  I’m learning that more and more as I get older.

If my friend had a criminal record, I wouldn’t believe him at all.  Also, he wouldn’t be my friend.  But he doesn’t have a criminal record.  The dude is in his mid-50s.  I can’t imagine that he would wake up one day as he is getting close the retirement and decide to be a pedophile.  Anything is possible, but there is not a history of this kind of behavior. 

 

Well, i don't have friends... And i do have a record...

The thing about addiction, and pedos and rapists, is that they get more bold as their need grows... So there's that.

Maybe he's on his way to being a serial killer? Maybe the government just caught him in a sting? Or maybe he was entrapped?

Or maybe he got more and more bold and got caught.

Occam's razor and all.

Maybe, since you like having friends, you get you some with a record so you can learn about life...

Edited January 15, 2023 by SKJ

[956 Worldwide 34695]

You should tell your friend to get a good lawyer and STFU about his charges except for talking to his lawyer. 
 

Also the explanation sounds extremely far-fetched. 

[956 Worldwide 34695]

Also, @Clarence Worley— since you asked for help from message board assholes who don’t know you, here’s something you don’t want to hear. 
 

Consider getting some distance between yourself and this. I promise that far more people “rally around someone because they know who he is” and then find out that they didn’t really know who he is, than there are innocent e-mail users trapped into clicking something they didn’t want to see. You should think about how much stink you want on you if this ends up being the first. 
 

There’s a lot of room between throwing someone under the bus and actively taking part in their defense.  I would let other people do most of the rallying, especially in public. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by 956 Worldwide

[52-80 19142]

13 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Post the materials here so that we can review and assess what statutes he may have violated. 

Lawyer tip: anastasis is definitely a Fed. 

[Victor Lazlo 1776]

Yeah, this whole white knight shtick doesn’t smell right to me.

The OP doth protest too much, methinks.

[52-80 19142]

12 hours ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

When you say "content was earmarked and as soon as my friend clicked on the link, the information was reported to local authorities", it smells of BS.   Either your friend is lying, or you are intentionally or unknowingly mis-reporting the details. 

• Who exactly reported it to the authorities?  The ISP? 
• What exactly was reported to authorities?
• What does 'earmarked' mean in this context. That term is not one that is used in the tech field.

It was catfishing. But the fish was an underaged minnow. 

[Dahobbs 17521]

58 minutes ago, Victor Lazlo said:

Yeah, this whole white knight shtick doesn’t smell right to me.

The OP doth protest too much, methinks.

Txtow is back?

[Anastasis 23454]

8 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Txtow is back?

hide your kids, hide your windshields. 

[Wally Fairway 5539]

Haven't read the entire thread, yet. 

But my question is who arrested him? Asking because the dad of friend of my son was arrested by the FBI. This was about 20 years ago. They came in force, leaving with computers, phones and I don't know what else.

Short version is lots of rumors, never saw him again, though he was out for about a year on bond, he never went out and he was convicted. Discharged from Fed lock up 3 months before he died around 7 years ago. 

You never know, I felt worst for his wife and 2 boys. My son's friend has done very well, I stayed in touch with him through HD head y, he's married, good job and seems to have overcome the challenge.

Cautionary tale, don't do stupid shit on a computer. Someone is looking, taking names and kicking ass.

 

[Wally Fairway 5539]

14 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Post the materials here so that we can review and assess what statutes he may have violated. 

Are you a Fed/Narc?

You have to tell us if we ask, right? Also, are you trying to get surly shutdown? Haven't we had to change boards and/or enough already...

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

25 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

hide your kids, hide your windshields. 

Don’t put white rocks in your front yard landscaping.

[Anastasis 23454]

6 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Are you a Fed/Narc?

You have to tell us if we ask, right? Also, are you trying to get surly shutdown? Haven't we had to change boards and/or enough already...

There are a lot of smart people here. Figure it wouldn’t take someone long to spoof an email. 
 

From: Coach Sark

To: Nick Saban 

Subject: Check out this link coach. 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Not at all.  His wife is devastated and has had a life of tragedy.  Talked to them both this morning now that he is out on bail and they were both breaking down.  This is a dude that is a true patriot and has spent a big portion of his life in the Middle East diffusing bombs and has partial hearing loss because a bomb went off while he was diffusing it.  He always puts others first.  He has always been there for me when I needed him so trying to do everything I can to help him and his wife.  

Does he lend you the good ear?

Porn search/ ordnance disposal.  Either can blow up at any time.

Edited January 15, 2023 by slorch

[Dnaguy 11912]

Let me understand this version of events:

Friend is minding his business on the internet.

Friend is sent a phishing email with a link

Said phishing expedition isn’t the cops but is sent to them or they were participating a la a Dateline type situation?

Your friend clicks on it. Realizes its bad. But he does nothing / does not contact authorities that he’s getting illegal content sent to him.

Cops don’t do anything as they know it’s a mistake from….. monitoring the speed at which he closed out the material.

Somehow another jurisdiction gets wind of the phishing email link following.

They do not take speed of clicking out of content into account.

They decide to prosecute him.

He goes to jail and posts bail.

He’s now got an attorney.

 

Did I miss anything?

 

[Clarence Worley 22]

@Wally Fairway, local law enforcement arrested him.  Feds haven’t been involved as far as I know.

@956 Worldwide, it was one of my first thoughts when we learned about why he was arrested.  Doing everything I can to help without getting directly involved.

I also think that our laws need to be changed so that arrests are not public record until there is a plea bargain or conviction.  Crimes like this don’t just affect the individual that may have committed the crime and their immediate family.  It affects everyone within their orbit and the communities they live in especially if they are active in the community.

I also wanted to share this story since it could happen to any of us or friends or family.  

 

[Clarence Worley 22]

@Dnaguy, that’s a good summary of the events based on what I know right now.  I know there could be details missing and the lawyer hasn’t reviewed all of the evidence yet.

It is suspicious, though, that the crime happened over a year ago and local law enforcement just now got around to arresting him.  I would think law enforcement would jump on something like this immediately if someone was a danger to the community.

I’ve received a couple of letters over the past year notifying me that there is a warrant out for my arrest for an unpaid speeding ticket that I got over 20 years ago.  I’m not exactly sure how the system works but do cases get passed around police departments until eventually there is a police department that decides to pursue a case?

[Clarence Worley 22]

@Dnaguy, that was also a thought I had and something I wanted to ask this forum.  If you inadvertently click on a link that has illegal content, is it best to self-report to local authorities immediately or contact a lawyer?  I’m thinking it may be but you’re also risking incriminating yourself.  

[hobbes2702 13028]

8 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Agree with you @SKJ.  It is hard to get through life without friends though.  There are times in your life when you need a friend to avoid absolute tragedy and you can never predict when that time will be.  I’m learning that more and more as I get older.

If my friend had a criminal record, I wouldn’t believe him at all.  Also, he wouldn’t be my friend.  But he doesn’t have a criminal record.  The dude is in his mid-50s.  I can’t imagine that he would wake up one day as he is getting close the retirement and decide to be a pedophile.  Anything is possible, but there is not a history of this kind of behavior. 

 

I think he’s probably always been into kiddie porn and you just didn’t know.

[Homercles 10205]

The writers for season 2 of NowThis are trying too hard

[hobbes2702 13028]

2 hours ago, Victor Lazlo said:

Yeah, this whole white knight shtick doesn’t smell right to me.

The OP doth protest too much, methinks.

Op is TxTow?

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Txtow is back?

Damn beat me to it. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

9 minutes ago, Clarence Worley said:

@Dnaguy, that was also a thought I had and something I wanted to ask this forum.  If you inadvertently click on a link that has illegal content, is it best to self-report to local authorities immediately or contact a lawyer?  I’m thinking it may be but you’re also risking incriminating yourself.  

Clarence, there isn’t some malicious email scam designed to ensnare innocent people into kiddie porn charges.

[hobbes2702 13028]

@Clarence Worley I wanna know more about his supposed retirement spot that’s off limits now and what exactly the OP did to help. Helping the dude pay for his Thai retirement seems like a bad idea 

Edited January 15, 2023 by hobbes2702

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

30 minutes ago, Clarence Worley said:

 

I also wanted to share this story since it could happen to any of us or friends or family.  

 

Don’t say things like this.

[Clarence Worley 22]

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt, I know it seems far fetched.  But let’s be honest.  There are sting operations designed to catch criminals and innocent people can get caught up in them.  Our criminal justice system is far from perfect.  I’m not saying that is the case here.  I think a good lawyer with the resources to investigate cyber crimes would be able to trace the origin of the email.  This evidently started with an email because it was the email service provider that reported it to the local authorities.  It wasn’t the ISP provider that reported it as far as I know.    Again there should be evidence to prove my friend’s version of things.  If he is lying, we will find out soon enough.  

[Clintonaldo 2572]

One thing I can confidently say is we all need a friend like Clarence. 

[Dahobbs 17521]

13 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Don’t say things like this.

Well, any of us that are into kiddie porn I guess?

I'm generally suspicious of law enforcement. But this story doesn't make sense in the least. At least I'm 100% sure that his alleged exposure to the material is more long term and consistent then presented by OP. 

Also, just keep in mind, your posts can be used by law enforcement and may make you more directly involved. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

4 minutes ago, Clarence Worley said:

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt, I know it seems far fetched.  But let’s be honest.  There are sting operations designed to catch criminals and innocent people can get caught up in them.  Our criminal justice system is far from perfect.  I’m not saying that is the case here.  I think a good lawyer with the resources to investigate cyber crimes would be able to trace the origin of the email.  This evidently started with an email because it was the email service provider that reported it to the local authorities.  It wasn’t the ISP provider that reported it as far as I know.    Again there should be evidence to prove my friend’s version of things.  If he is lying, we will find out soon enough.  

Post the arrest warrant and black out all identifying info.

[dcbc 14464]

Should be pretty easy to prove if he can show (the DA) you the email he received, right? 

 

/I don't think there actually is an email.

Edited January 16, 2023 by dcbc

[Neonmoon 38129]

13 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

Thanks everyone for the insights.

This is a learning experience for me as much as anything else. 

I admit I have had some skepticism since I first learned about this as well.  I haven’t misreported anything purposely because I need expert point of views.  I probably shouldn’t have said my friend is completely innocent because at the end of the day you have to be smarter and can’t be easily duped.  I wholeheartedly don’t think someone’s life should be ruined over something like this if it was his first offense.  Agree with those that say that he may need a therapist.  That’s what we should try to do as a society instead of sentencing people to a life of ruin over a moment of weakness. 

Also, it seems that my friend has been cooperating from the very beginning with law enforcement which may not have been the smartest thing to do.  He admitted clicking on a link instead of saying that wasn’t me or that was someone renting my house at around the time the incident happened or my IP address got hacked, etc. He is super honest and trusts law enforcement because he has family members in law enforcement.  We are on different ends of the political spectrum as well and have had debates about this.  

I also just let some good friends of ours whose kids have been around our friend and whose kids love him, and they said they would be a character witness if needed and they would have no issues with their kids being around him now that they know what he was charged with.  Their reaction when I told them confirmed my point of view on this situation.  I told our friend and his wife beforehand that I had to tell them since it was now public record and we wanted them to find out from us.  He was ok with it.  

I might be reading between the lines, but it sounds like he knew what he was doing, and deep down, you know it too. And to be completely honest, if I was a gambling man, I would put money on this “friend” being a fabrication. Either way. Lawyer up. Get him some therapy. But just know, if true, these things tend not to go away. Imagine being told not to be attracted to something you’re attracted to. You’re born that way. 

[0xdeadbeef 1645]

24 minutes ago, Clarence Worley said:

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt, I know it seems far fetched.  But let’s be honest.  There are sting operations designed to catch criminals and innocent people can get caught up in them.  Our criminal justice system is far from perfect.  I’m not saying that is the case here.  I think a good lawyer with the resources to investigate cyber crimes would be able to trace the origin of the email.  This evidently started with an email because it was the email service provider that reported it to the local authorities.  It wasn’t the ISP provider that reported it as far as I know.    Again there should be evidence to prove my friend’s version of things.  If he is lying, we will find out soon enough.  

An email provider would be able to scan a mail box and read your mail.  They could see links to bad stuff, and they can scan attachments for bad stuff, and when you read a specific mail, there is an "Unread/Read" attribute that gets update in the mailbox; the email provider could know you read a specific email.  But an email provider has know way to know what links in an email you clicked.  When mail is up in a browser or mail reader and you click a link, your computer talks to the host from the link via the Internet connection; it doesn't go through the email provider. Nothing gets updated in the mailbox when you click a link in an email...the browser has that info and that is out of reach of the email provider.

If the email provider reported this, is was NOT because of a clicked link to kiddie porn, it was because there was actual kiddie porn _files_ in his email.  

Edited January 15, 2023 by 0xdeadbeef

[Tailgate 3021]

14 hours ago, Clarence Worley said:

He admitted clicking on a link instead of saying that wasn’t me or that was someone renting my house at around the time the incident happened or my IP address got hacked, etc.

You’re not inferring he should have lied, are you?

[956 Worldwide 34695]

30 minutes ago, Clarence Worley said:

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt, I know it seems far fetched.  But let’s be honest.  There are sting operations designed to catch criminals and innocent people can get caught up in them.  Our criminal justice system is far from perfect.  I’m not saying that is the case here.  I think a good lawyer with the resources to investigate cyber crimes would be able to trace the origin of the email.  This evidently started with an email because it was the email service provider that reported it to the local authorities.  It wasn’t the ISP provider that reported it as far as I know.    Again there should be evidence to prove my friend’s version of things.  If he is lying, we will find out soon enough.  

Yes, let’s be honest. If this is a sting operation, the link didn’t say “click here for a chance to win an iPad.” It didn’t even say “meet hot big breasted wimmenz here.” Then BAM! Kiddie porn. 

The cops want charges off of stings to stick. Even a terrible lawyer can get someone off of some amateur hour shit like that. This is like alleging the cops tell people they’re selling laundry powder and then actually giving them coke. 
 

Public arrest records are vital to accountability for cops and prosecutors. And there’s no such thing as a secret trial or plea so this dude would be fucked regardless. 
 

Either there’s no friend or this is a weird as troll is my bet.

 

 

[dlatin 328]

The thread reminds me of the immortal PSIG thread that spawned the Shag.

[0xdeadbeef 1645]

6 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Yes, let’s be honest. If this is a sting operation, the link didn’t say “click here for a chance to win an iPad.” It didn’t even say “meet hot big breasted wimmenz here.” Then BAM! Kiddie porn. 

The cops want charges off of stings to stick. Even a terrible lawyer can get someone off of some amateur hour shit like that. This is like alleging the cops tell people they’re selling laundry powder and then actually giving them coke. 

Public arrest records are vital to accountability for cops and prosecutors. And there’s no such thing as a secret trial or plea so this dude would be fucked regardless. 

Either there’s no friend or this is a weird as troll is my bet.

And I'm not sure a police-run sting for kiddie porn could/would use actual kiddie porn. A police-run sting would more likely befriend you and try to get you to share your porn with them. Again, I think your friend is lying and is in deeper than he is telling you.