Friday, August 29. 2008
The camp counselor has apparently spent his time surrounding himself with children and was looking forward to the "fringe benefits" of his new job as a teacher to be around young girls. According to professionals there is someone similar in every school in America. 2 indicted on child porn charges
By SEAN O'SULLIVAN
The News Journal Two Wilmington men, including a counselor for a summer camp in Pennsylvania, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple child pornography charges. The counselor, Brian L. Briggs, 22, worked at the Friends Central School's Trailblazer Summer Camp in Wynnewood, Pa., according to prosecutors.
He was caught in an online sting in whichan FBI agent searched for people trading child pornography on peer-to-peer networks.
During an online session with Briggs, who was using the screen name "TomatoB," Briggs allegedly sent illicit images of minors to the agent, according to court papers.
Briggs also allegedly chatted with the agent about getting a job as a teacher and how that would provide a "fringe benefit" of proximity to young girls and also allegedly confessed to inappropriately touching a child "a few years back" when he was "working at a camp."
Prosecutors said in addition to the job at the camp, Briggs also worked in the school's after-care program. Both jobs involved the supervision of young children.
Investigators tracked the screen name back to Briggs and a subsequent search at Briggs' parents home, where he lived, turned up a thumb drive with more than100 images of suspected child porn, according to court papers.
Briggs also allegedly admitted to investigators that he possessed child porn and had been seeking it out for several years.
His attorney, Edmund "Dan" Lyons, could not be reached for comment. Calls to the school were not returned.
The second man indicted, Edward Brosky, 72, a retiree, was caught in a similar sting.
An agent entered a newsgroup where child pornography had been posted by the user, "Ali-Baba."
The posts and the username then were traced to the married Brosky at his home, which was searched.
According to court papers, agents seized several computers, CDs and DVDs, which contained more than 90,000 suspected child porn images.
At the conclusion of the search, Brosky allegedly admitted to possessing child porn saying, "having child pornography is worse than robbing a bank" and that he preferred images of girls between the ages of nine and 10.
Brosky's attorney, Christopher S. Koyste, said he expects his client will be admitting guilt.
"It is really an addition issue and the government already knows that," Koyste said, adding his client has already seen a therapist and hopes to get into treatment as soon as possible.
Briggs is facing a 14-count indictment and Brosky is facing a 12-count indictment, both include charges of receipt and possession of child pornography.
If convicted on all counts, both men face a minimum mandatory five years in prison and up to life behind bars.
Both have been incarcerated since their arrests several weeks ago.
U.S. Attorney Colm F. Connolly, in a statement, said that those ”who prey on children, regardless of their station in life, standing, job or background - will find themselves primary targets of law enforcement."
Both men are set to be arraigned on the charges Thursday.
Wednesday, August 27. 2008
Teacher Nabbed In Sex Sting 
A Mt. Lebanon High School chemistry teacher is the latest suspect snared in the state Attorney General's Internet sex sting. Nicholas E. Salvo, 34, of Mt. Lebanon sent sexually explicit messages and videos to an undercover agent whom he thought was a 14-year-old girl, the prosecutor's office announced Friday. He has been teaching at the school since 1999 and was the girls tennis coach for a brief period of time.
Wednesday, August 13. 2008
Statistics are funny things. On one hand the use of statistics can quantify a problem. On the other hand when used in reference to people, they can dehumanize an issue and turn it into a mathematical formula. The following slide show hopefully balances the scope of the sexual abuse of children in educational environments with the voices of the survivors. The survivors quoted do not come from any one case. They do not relate to the cases cited in the slideshow. Recently a person who viewed this slideshow stated that it is not appropriate for all environments. Consider that a warning- it's not graphic, but it is the truth. The truth is sometimes ugly. PASchoolWatch2.pdf
Sunday, August 10. 2008
 According to accounts by former students Father Dennis was a "normal guy", a "great priest". He even received a proclamation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for coaching a championship basketball team. If the allegations brought forth by four previous students are proven, serial predator can be added to list of Rev. Dennis Killion's traits.
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published a story about the incidents and there was a follow up story on August 7th about the inconsistencies of the responses about the matter from the church. What did they know and when did they know it? If Rev Killion is found guilty and the church negligent, every person who knew of the abuse is also responsible. It is known as "Passing The Trash" and it is not exclusively a church problem. Many experts believe it is wide spread, hard to detect and harder to stop. Google the phrase "Passing The Trash" and you will be astounded with the information you receive. The Inquirer article reports that a parish in Bucks County, Pennsylvania directly benefitted from a Delaware state law, The Child Victims Act. The Child Victims Act was enacted on July 10, 2007, and it removes the statute of limitations for child victims of sexual abuse to bring forth civil claims. The law is also retroactive; a child victim previously barred because of an expired statute of limitations was granted a two year window from the date the law was enacted to bring forth a claim. Similar legislation in Pennsylvania has stalled. We can thank Delaware for watching out for Pennsylvania's children. From our own State House we have new and (not) improved legislation regarding among other things criminal background checks. It is no longer a requirement to produce an original background clearance, now a copy will do. Great, thanks for that!! 
Monday, July 28. 2008
07/25/2008 | Suspected sex predators just can't avoid the lure | By: Rose Quinn |
Before suspended Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Albert Silveri III, there was retired York County teacher Lowell Hanna, self-employed financial planner Drew Weidner and former Lehigh University administrator Steven Devlin.
Four seemingly successful men - all busted by the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for allegedly wanting to have sex with young girls in the last year, desires expressed in online chats to undercover officers and eventually aired in salacious detail in arrest affidavits.
The scenarios for Hanna, Weidner and Devlin are similar: Chats online about fantasies to have explicit sex with a mother and her two young daughters eventually leads to an arranged meeting. But instead of finding the mother, they're greeted by a small army of police.
Hanna, 66, of Spring Grove, was arrested in Ridley Park in January 2008, while Weidner, 41, of Hamburg, and Devlin, 49, of Bryn Mawr, were both nabbed in July 2007. Devlin was apprehended in Springfield, Devlin in Upper Darby.
In Silveri's case, he allegedly set up a meeting late Monday afternoon at a Ridley Township convenience store, but was a no-show. But two days later, the eight-year state police veteran was arrested outside his residence in Aston.
Silveri, 39, is charged with two counts each of criminal solicitation as it relates to rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and criminal use of a communication facility.
Jailed at the county prison after failing to post 10 percent of $250,000 bail, Silveri's preliminary hearing is scheduled July 30.
Detective Lisa Carroll, a member of the task force and part-time officer in Ridley Park, was posing as the mother of two young girls in public chat rooms when exchanges began with Devlin, Hanna and Silveri. In Weidner's case, it was Detective Michele Deery.
"We could sit here 24 hours a day," Carroll told the Daily Times back in March 2006, referring to the volume of traffic she and Deery are dealing with.
"For a lot of these guys," Deery said at the time, "it used to be the kids' underwear page in J.C. Penney's catalog."
Lt. David C. Peifer, head of the task force that operates through District Attorney G. Michael Green's office, declined to comment on the recent case. He's repeatedly maintained, both in interviews and lectures, that like the Internet itself, potential predators transcend all boundaries.
"These cases exemplify the dangers that our children face when using the Internet and remind us that these dangers are not imagined, but very real," Green said at a press conference last July, announcing Devlin's arrest.
For nearly two months, Devlin chatted online with Carroll. Using the screen name "Phillyguy5," Devlin pressed the undercover detective to "find a way to do more than chat online."
According to Devlin's own accounts included in court documents, Devlin participated in family and group sex. He allegedly told the detective he and his wife "both grew up in this lifestyle," and began "preparing" their two daughters when they were 10 and 12.
At the time, Carroll was posing as a 32-year-old mother of two girls, ages 7 and 9.
In one conversation with Carroll, he wrote that he was nervous about chatting online.
"Meeting other families like ours is always risky, risky," Devlin wrote. "But it is also exciting."
In May, Devlin pleaded guilty to a charge of attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. His sentencing was deferred until Aug. 11. He remains free on 10 percent of $250,000 bail and is confined to home arrest on electronic home monitoring.
Last month, a contrite Weidner was sentenced to serve three to seven years in jail after pleading guilty in February to charges of attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault.
He told the court that he is working to overcome a pornography addiction that led to his crime, and this is the "No. 1 priority in my life."
"I love lots of kissing, dirty talk and oral (both giving and receiving,)" he wrote in the exchanges with Deery, posing as a mom of daughters, ages 11 and 14.
Hanna, a divorced father of two, waived a preliminary hearing in February on multiple counts of sexual-related offenses.
Authorities described Hanna as embarrassed when he was arrested Jan. 12 in the parking lot of a Ridley Park diner. That was where he had made online arrangements to meet with a woman and her two daughters, ages 7 and 9.
At the time of his arrest, police found Hanna's vehicle loaded with wine, Viagra, sexual aids, a disposable camera and presents for the young girls, including a CD and videotape of mega-star Hannah Montana.
Silveri's arrest Wednesday capped an investigation that began by Carroll in April, when she signed online, entered various public special interest chat rooms and received an instant message from "StrongWilled07."
Silveri, an eight-year state police veteran who specializes in accident reconstruction with Troop K in Philadelphia, told authorities at the time of his arrest he owned and used the screen name "StrongWilled07." Troop K also includes the Media station in Middletown, and the Skippack station in Montgomery County.
Authorities allege he used his state-issued laptop computer to solicit sex from a 33-year-old mother of two girls, ages 8 and 10.
This is certainly a sad day for the Pennsylvania State Police, Maj. Tedescung "Len" Bandy said Thursday, joining Green at a press conference announcing Silveri's arrest.
"This is a reflection of an individual, not an agency," state police Lt. Timothy McDonald, Troop K commander, said at the press conference, reiterating what he told his troopers earlier in the day.
Residents on Thomas Road, near Five Points in Aston where Silveri has lived for about seven years, were stunned.
Though he didn't know him other than to see, Wayne Carlen admitted he felt "safer because a state trooper" lived in the neighborhood.
"I work in Chester County prison. I deal with guys like that all the time," he said, referring to inmates facing similar child sex offenses.
Nicole Heck and Stephanie Powers both saw Silveri's arrest go down - some four hours after officers in both marked and unmarked cars swarmed the neighborhood late Wednesday afternoon.
"He was the last person I would have ever suspected that they were looking for," Heck said.
For anyone who would like to report an alleged crime, the CyberTipline is 1-800-843-5678.
(Staff Writers Marlene DiGiacomo, Cindy Scharr and Correspondent Linda Reilly contributed to this story.) |
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