Greymuzzle furry artist Ted Sheppard arrested, suspected of uploading child pornography
Ted Sheppard, an artist from the early days of furry fandom, was arrested last December, suspected of uploading child pornography.
In November last year, following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that someone in the Tucson (Arizona) area was uploading child pornography, the Tucson Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started an investigation. This lead to a search warrant being served on Sheppard's address in Tucson, on Wednesday, December 11. The 46-year-old Sheppard was arrested, and booked into the Pima County Jail for ten counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.
During the service of the search warrant, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals, detectives located evidence "that implicated the sole resident as the suspect involved on the uploading of child pornography," according to a news release made by Tucson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Chris Widmer. They also located a large number of weapons and numerous "potential explosive devices" inside the home, which are being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In the furry fandom, Sheppard, also known as Shep or Nyanki, has been active since the early days of the fandom, drawing art for numerous comics and fanzines, including Furrlough, Rowrbrazzle, and Huzzah. Sheppard is a member of the Tucson Mob, and was one of the furries who expelled Mitch Beiro after his arrest for similar offenses.
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Higgs Raccoon — read stories — contact (login required)a (No longer a Flayrah contributor)
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In before the comment madness.
Madness?
THIS! IS! FLAYRAH!
...
too obvious?
I know there will be a lot of discussion about the merits of the case.
I'd like to set that aside for a moment to thank Flayrah for running this story. That decision that will no doubt draw a great deal of discussion -- possibly as much as the story itself.
I believe criticism of that decision should be expressed, even though I'll probably disagree with it. I hope we can all be civil about it in any case.
(As for the merits of the case itself: I'd rather leave that discussion for others.)
To make this even more awkward, some of those weapons might belong to his fandom friend Jim Groat, who's going through a divorce. Rumor has it that in order to get more money out of his soon-to-be ex-wife, he might have hid personal assets by stashing items from his personal collection with friends, like Ted Sheppard.
You know I've seen plenty of "beware" or "drama" or "Fandom watchdog" sites in my day. This is the first one I've seen dedicated to just one person. That's a certain kind of special right there.
Nah man, I've seen like, three in the last year alone.
Think Dragoneer will make him an admin? :p
Before people think this is not news, remember that many in the Tuscon Mob (a furry group out there) claim credit for "founding the fandom."
That two of them have been arrested for kiddie porn within the past year is quite the statistical curiosity. One of them died years ago, and another is Jim Groat, and the group only had six or seven people in it.
I was thinking the same thing (re: statistical curiosity). I recall there being quite an odd streak with this group -- you could call it libertarian if you wished, but it always felt like survivalist/militia stuff. Certainly nothing that I'd connect to child pornography, of course. I'd have laid higher odds on one or more of them being arrested on some kind of weapons-related charge. Threatening a police officer. Trying to secede from the union. Something like that.
Any claim that they founded the fandom, though, strikes me as... spurious. They were certainly there from very early on, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to give credit-slash-blame to the LA area crowd for that.
— Chipotle
I imagine if you're raping kids or getting off to kid-raping, you don't necessarily want the government anywhere close to your life. Not saying THAT'S the reason behind the libertarian bend, but when you look at someone like Groat, you see someone who has tons of guns, and can't keep a job worth a darn, claims he invented the fandom, and blames all his ills on liberals.
Sounds like the entire "mob" protested too much.
As someone who studies politics pretty thoroughly, I've found Libertarian-ism is no better then the other four corners of the spectrum. I kind of had my trial with it during the first time Ron Paul showed up in the 2008 elections, but as I talked to more of them, or saw videos they watched on YouTube there is a sense of a lack of morality. Like they believe that because a few anti-gay social conservatives have obsessed over the gays and rejected them that they should burn the entirety of religion from the conservative philosophy, including the actual good parts.
The video that killed my identity as a Libertarian was this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HzD27ZmN7w
The real clincher comes in at about 2:50. Basically says they guys should have ran to a more "Libertarian" county with his Bitcoins which he gained funding illegal action (not just drugs, but murder-for-hires as well) on his site Silk Road. And in a Libertarian county he could have even run for office...
Now I say that sometimes this country gets on certain people a bit too hard with the 'morality' stick, particularly over a politician's bedroom behavior. But I would rather we live in a country where a person running a murder for hire website ends up in jail rather than in office, and if that is the Libertarian's idea of a paradise I want no part of it.
I wouldn't have cared about this statement so much if it didn't come from a channel that promotes Libertarian-ism and pro-Libertarian. This person wasn't calling the government he lists or having someone like a dealer being elected as a bad thing... it made my jaw hit the freakin' floor. Did he even comprehend what he was saying.
Well, this ... is actually way better than anything I was expecting, but still came out of left field.
Well, the left field of the right field. Actually, were do Libertarians fit on the "right to left" idiom?
In America they tended to ally themselves with the Republican party, this has recently started to change however as the Republican party has been pushing too hard on the social issues as of late for their liking, on top of George Bush who pushed for government spying which is basically a burning of the cross in their eyes. Libertarians are typically a hybrid of Republicans monetary ideals with Democrat social ideals. But when it comes to the government affairs they are purely "liberal"
Now to understand that last sentence I have to explain something. America's labeling system is a bit off when it comes to 'liberal' or 'conservative' because many people use them interchangably for "Democrat" or "Republican", which is actual in practice not the case. A conservative respects authority while a liberal questions it and ensure there are checks in place and will speak out against it. "Don't tread on me" is very much a 'liberal' phrase in the sense that it tells people in power not to oppress or the 'check and balance' will be a snake bite.
From my experience Democrats are conservative toward the government when Democrats are in power and liberal when Republicans are in power. The opposite is true for Republicans.
It really is an interesting mess, but what does this have to do with Libratarianism? Well they are the exception to what I said above. They tend to be the group that will always question the government no matter which party is in power. So they are always "liberal" in that sense when it comes to the government affairs.
But to answer the original question is "Up" of center, while populism or statism is its polar opposite which is found "Down" of center. For more on the visual you'd have to see the Nolan Chart or any of its similar equivalents.
Very telling, really, for the modern-day John Birch Society -- euphemistically referred to as 'The Tea Party' -- to have as its symbol a snake: an unpleasant, cold-blooded and lethal creature most cultures regard as something to avoid. It's like the semi-Swastika of Greece's Golden Dawn, I mean they're not even trying to hide it, are they?
You'd think, say, an image of the American Eagle in a cage (accompanied by the slogan 'Meant to be free' or somesuch) would be less threatening and make more sense. But this *is* the John Birch Society we're talking about (who in the 1950s infamously accused war hero President Eisenhower of being a brainwashed Commie spy), so what's sense got to do with it?
Saying they "created" the snake sign they fly is giving them more credit than they deserve really. Like most other things the Tea Party does, their flying of this flag was 'inspired' (or 'stolen') from the American Revolution Era.
I don't know if they've adopted the snake as a symbol for their party, it just happened to be on a Flag in the past and they liked the idea on the flag. It certainly says one thing about humanity, they certainly are territorial animals.
Howdy!
The odd streak about us may have been that we are (for the most part) single men who enjoy weapons and love history. None of us have a problem with Law Enforcement, surely we would never threaten a law officer, that's ludicrous. Politically we run from conservative to Democrat, Scott was a reform party candidate for AZ Governor years ago. Other than choosing to remain single and collecting historic weapons, I know of nothing that would make us that "off" so to speak.
None of us were/are militia.
as to the "founding the fandom" concept, I have already guessed that it may have been Groat who said that. None of us would have...
I think Mark Merlino's group were the closest to any founders the fandom may claim.
"I think Mark Merlino's group were the closest to any founders the fandom may claim." -
Oh for the love of Zod, please don't say that in any format again... he and other select members of his little butt-buddy clique are insufferable enough without any more PSI added to his U.S.I.. His propensity for being a claimant toward the grandiose doesn't need any more aggrandizing.
I don't know what this means, but I can affirm from personal knowledge (like, I was there, too) that Mark Merlino was one of the attendees at the 1980 Worldcon in Boston who "discovered" Steve Gallacci and his Erma Felna. Merlino's & Rod O'Riley's well-publicized "Furry Parties" in their hotel rooms at mid-1980s West Coast s-f and comics conventions were responsible for the name of "furry fandom". And Merlino & O'Riley organized the first furry convention, ConFurence 0, in January 1989.
Fred Patten
This guy looks like Mitch Beiro's bald and slightly-better-groomed brother.
Nothing good has ever come out of the Tuscan Mob. There is something festering in this group that seems to be finally bubbling to the surface. Founded the fandom my ass, they're just self-important manchildren.
I don't know, "self-important manchildren" maybe isn't the stone anyone needs to be throwing on the glass house of the Internet.
As I stated below, I know of no one in the Mob saying anything like this, but I suspect Groat...
I take exception to "self-important manchildren". Save for Mitch Biero (who admitted his guilt and kept his unsavory habits to himself) We of the Mob are decent enough folks. We obey the laws and do not cause trouble, why are we so accused?
Because one after the other of your members are being outed as pedophiles?
Mitch admitted to his problem he accepted his sentence. Ted was accused. This does not make him guilty. I know him well. Ted is my best friend. It seems terribly high-handed to damn everyone in the Mob for the admitted sins of one man, and the accusations leveled on another.
You are, of course entitled to your opinions. But painting all with a broad brush isn't the decent thing to do. The mere accusation of this has ruined Ted's life. Whether he is found guilty or innocent, he will have to live with the allegations leveled at him.
Many, many innocent people are railroaded on such charges a year. Why throw further fuel on the furry fandom fire when it serves no one?
I used to be judgmental. All it did was ruin my life. I have worked hard to try to be a decent person. It has been liberating.
Me, I kinda wonder if Mitch informed on Ted.
Someone did.
While I'm not particularly interested in wading into the ethical jungle around this subject, I'm probably qualified to wade into the technical jungle: if this involved a file sharing service as Wolf Smith claims, it didn't require anyone to inform on Sheppard.
Think about file sharing sites like the rather infamous "MegaUpload" run by "Kim Dotcom" -- while they're ostensibly just for transferring large files, by design they (slightly) anonymize uploading and downloading. The sites' creators and owners are aware that unsavory things happen on their sites. They just don't particularly care. Nobody was "informing" on Kim Dotcom, and when authorities cracked down, nobody had to inform on any of those users -- they ended up getting access to all those files, as well as traffic logs. You can bet if there was child porn there, warrants were being served.
The question from a technical stance is how the illegal files in question in this case were associated with Sheppard. The only two ways I can see are as follows: IP addresses connected to him appeared in logs associated with transferring those files, or the file sharing service was something more like Dropbox, in which case Sheppard would actually have had to have an account on Dropbox directly associated with him -- it's not the same kind of service as MegaUpload's ilk. Stuff in your Dropbox is either stuff you put there or stuff people put into folders you've explicitly shared with them. (Someone could potentially break into your Dropbox and upload things to it, although that might leave an auditable trail.)
— Chipotle
The reports have all said they seized them off his machine. But that it was a "community PC."
These things weren't on dropbox, and honestly, I don't know any services that push CP onto computers, even illicit pirate places. You have to go out of your way to find these things. REGULAR PORN, sure, that pops up all the time on these illicit type pirating sites. CP? Not so much unless you're on some extremely skeevy sites dedicated to that kind of thing.
I think what they are refering to is P2P file sharing, such as a BitTorrent or a Kazaa. When talking about the later it sure as heck is very dangerous to use such a devise. People put in things embedded into files for all sorts of reasons. When I was a foolish college student I ended up getting over 100 items of spyware onto my computer using P2P downloading services. Swore off of them ever since.
It would not surprise me that there is a possibility that CP peddlers might put a few pics embedded into otherwise benign programs that appears for other uses on such services. They don't care if a person not interested in such things accidentally downloads them along with the pirated software they happen to receive, so long as their actual clientele gets the package. In fact, it's a good way to do it so that when a passerby does find out what's going on they are less likely to report it. What are they going to do? Go to the authorities and go. "I was pirating Microsoft Word, and what I found embedded in this folder-- well my Word..."?
It is certainly a defense that could be used, whether or not that's what happened in this case, I cannot be sure. But certainly when one pirates, they may want to be sure they're only getting the 'booty' they are looking for and no additional 'packages'.
Me? I hardly use the software I buy to their fullest extent, so why would I bother taking some I may not use anyway. If I don't wanna pay for it, it's probably not that important for me to have. Too much risk for too little reward.
What makes me cringe is thought it might be cub related.
Last thing we need is more bad press along those lines.
You can't become "a decent person" by ignoring the crimes -- and serious ones at that -- of others.
You can when there is serious doubt of their guilt. A CHARGE is not the same thing as a trial and a guilty verdict.
Fred Patten
When you make a decision about someone's guilt when you do not have all the facts at your disposal you can't be a decent person either.
Then I beg to differ, and differ most profoundly: for myself, it was liberating to realise I was in fact under no obligation to behave respectfully or pleasantly to everyone I encounter, not towards idiots and hatemongerers, and certainly not my 'fellow furs'. (Hah!)
Because furries.
Seriously, furs and drama sometimes seem inseperable.
Not quite as much of a graymuzzle as you guys, but pretty close. So I think I have some idea of what I'm talking about.
Also, let's be blunt, Groat doesn't endear himself to everyone. I like him, and I've talked with him at more than one con. But let's not mince words, there are people who flatout don't.
In b4 Rakuen Growlithe declares there's noting wrong with child pornography.
I wish some of these snarky anonymous commenters were more regular users. Maybe some of them are, but they just log out and switch IPs?
If the comment about one of the Tucson Mob dying refers to Michael-Scot McMurry who died painfully from incurable cancer, I object to the comment that, "Nothing good has ever come out of the Tucson Mob." McMurry's Zonie the Coyote was one of the most popular Furry comic strips before he got too sick to continue it. A benefit comic book for his medical bills and to pay for an expensive operation had a Stan Sakai cover and went over the top (and had a particularly embarrassing contribution from Stan Lee, who said something like, "I never heard of this McMurry guy, but since everybody says he's a great guy and worth donating to, I hope that he makes it." Everyone who knew him agreed that he was one the friendliest and nicest Furry fans around.
Fred Patten
Thanks Fred for saying this about McMurry.He was a really nice person that I wish a lot of younger furs had gotten the chance to know.
He may be guilty, or he could be the victim of a neighbor Wi-Fi hacker. We hope the courts get that right. As for the 'weapons and explosives' charge, that is a standard law-enforcement ploy to make bail harder to get. It's statistically easier to convict someone already in custody. Do you have any cos-play swords or axes of any kind? Yeah, you've got weapons. Blank cartridges, bottle rockets, black powder in any quantity? You're a terrorist wanna' be. I hope he's innocent, but... if not, he deserves to pay for encouraging such a heinous trade.
Munchdog, I'm dubious of these claims. But I think statistics will buttress (or collapse) your argument. Do you have any re: "weapons" arrests for things that turned out to be toys? Are we talking 10% of such arrests? 1%? .01%? A couple of well-publicized stories last year? I suspect it's not a significant percentage, and that this charge is driven by politics, not reality.
No I don't. Nor do most people. Among criminals as a whole, I expect the percentage is much higher. (But that's beside the point -- we might actually agree about the morality of applying such correlations to unrelated crimes.)
But here's the point: if that "any quantity" is spelled out in law, and someone has exceeded that quantity, then I for one am glad they're being charged. That's what laws are for. You can argue that the law's improper, but you won't get any sympathy for arguing, "He broke the law, but he shouldn't be charged! He's been arrested for one thing already. Isn't that enough?"
Let that be a tip for all of us, in the form of some of the wisest advice I've ever gotten: If you're going to break the law, break *only one law*. Don't be that idiot caught in a car full of drugs and weapons... with an expired registration.
Shep has always been a big weapons collector, going back to the 1980s, so I would be more surprised if the police did not find large numbers of handguns, machine guns, rockets, hand grenades, etc., in working condition, on his property. And if the police have not know about this for decades, because Shep never made any secret about it.
The news says that he was found to have pictures of child pornography on his computer, so he has been charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. I do not understand this. Isn't it like saying that if the police find that I have been reading novels of violent crimes such as bank robbery and murder (which I sometimes do; the novels of Richard Stark, for instance), this is enough for the police to arrest me for bank robbery and murder? This sounds ridiculous, but it sounds like what is happening here. The police certainly have to investigate when they suspect that a crime is being committed, but this sounds like an arrest is being made based on no more than the suspicious evidence of photographs on a computer. In the case of Mitch Beiro, the news said that he had confessed to the police that he did more than collect pictures of child pornography; he actually committed the sexual exploitation of a minor. This has not been announced here, or at least not yet. I would think that it is enough to start an investigation, but not enough yet to make an arrest.
Fred Patten
Per the definition, duplication of such visual depictions (e.g. obtaining or offering online) is the same as making them.
Admitting that you possess or have downloaded such material to your computer is an admission of sexual exploitation.
"Hmmm... what's this I've found online via my secret TOR router... oh my, it's photos of kids being fucked, and I don't mean Britney Spears dressed up as a schoolgirl, or the horny 12-year-old in the (100% fictional) movie Lolita, or even those creepily young-looking raccoonboy nymphomaniacs in Trashcan Champion's old drawings, I mean actual real-life children getting repeatedly raped! I wonder what would be the wisest thing to do, get the hell away from this page (and delete my cache and cookies just to be on the safe side) -- or save 'em all on my computer, no-one will ever know?!"
Oh look "yiffy art file" Oh **** there's cub porn in this...
It had nothing to do with Cub art.
The thing is, novels about violent crimes do not require real violence to have been committed against real people during their creation.
I am reminded of Maurice Tillieux (1921-1978), the Belgian comic-book author/artist who did not let his talent as a “big-foot” cartoonist stop him from creating one of the best hard-boiled “crime noir” cartoon series ever in comics history, with Gil Jourdan, his lawyer/private-detective hero. Tillieux reportedly worshipped the tough-guy heroes who fought crime outside the law, and he reportedly died in their style, in a car crash driving at high-speed while drunken. His comics are still in print today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Tillieux
http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/maurice-tillieux.html?vmcchk=1
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-High-Tide-Private-Detective/dp/1606994514/ref=sr_1_...
Fred Patten
Even that is not necessary in some jurisdictions. In the UK, for example, various depictions of "children" (with a clause specifying the inclusion of those characters which are people but with one or more additions) are illegal even if based on an imaginary child. When judging a case under a similar law in Sweden which lacked an "additions" clause, a neko with big eyes and a tail was deemed not a person. It's unclear whether the UK law applies to furry characters.
Fred
All weapons in Ted's collection were legal(and when required) Federally Registered. He did have ordnance, but it was inert (rendered non-functional). Arizona allows it's citizens a broad leeway as to what we may own. But all laws were followed.
The police reports mentioned possible explosive devices because inert grenades were seized, EOD officers do not check to see if an item is inert by taking them apart, as this has killed EOD personnel who tried to do so in the past. They assume that any such items are "live" and handle them thusly.
I know his stuff was inert because we use the same vendors and we both know that reliable vendors don't handle live stuff.
*dry laughter*
There has been a great deal of conjecture and mud slinging as regards Ted Sheppard. I will say this. I paid for his legal defense. It was nearly ten thousand dollars, and I would not have done this had he been guilty. I have known Ted for over twenty five years. He is a good man being shafted by not being diligent in his personal net security. This kind of thing can happen to anyone who uses file sharing services, you would be wise to avoid these sites.
Ted was using a file sharing service which was the source of the child pornography. He was not looking for this material. He would not have. He wasn't ever, nor is he now into child pornography. He is a victim of someone's malicious dumping of the material onto the file sharing service. The powers that be don't seem to care that he is innocent. The prosecutors intend to pad their career profiles by shredding a good and innocent man's life. The weapons seized were all legally obtained and part of a historic collection. Ted and I are both military antique dealers.
Folks are going to continue to say all kinds of rotten crap about Ted. This does not make their stories true. I am sorry that the fandom we have been involved in for so long feels the need to point and laugh at such misfortune. Ted's life has been ruined by the mere allegation of this crime, cut him some slack.
As far as someone in the Tucson Mob saying that we "started the fandom" WTF? I know of none of us who would say such nonsense. It sounds like one of Groat's delusions.
Thanks for reading.
Thank you for comments.
"The prosecutors intend to pad their career profiles by shredding a good and innocent man's life."
Don't know anything about this guy, but you aren't talking to deaf ears. This makes sense. Regardless of who is innocent or guilty, that system runs like a conveyer belt from charge to jail. Once it starts, they're looking to slot a piece of cargo on it. Doesn't matter who. It justifies their funding to carry out the process. Now, it may be true that there are tons of bad people who fit the bill. There are innocent ones, too. Lots of them in the USA. So many that we're aware of major problems with the system. Racial problems, class problems with affording defense. And for crimes like this, pre-judgement simply because it has so much stigma.
There's a logic term, "prosecutor's fallacy" that states that because a crime is common, if someone is accused it's probably true. In other words- if someone wins the lottery, the odds say they probably shouldn't- so if they do, didn't they cheat? No. So regardless of how many guilty people are in this system, an innocent one isn't going to have good odds to be vindicated.
Again, don't know this guy, but don't feel unheard.
I appreciate your comments. So many are just content to sit in judgment of others, having little to no real info. They feel safe doing this as the anonymity of the net allows folks free reign to vent their vitriol without having to face any kind of real repercussions.
The system as you pointed out really does not care about the innocence or guilt so long as the machine is fed.
Virtually anyone can be so accused if they have any significant net access, more if they use online file sharing services. I have read of this before, and I am quite sure Ted will not be it's last innocent victim. Sometimes I am pleased to have a minimal net savvy.
I wish you well.
Jim Groat was one of the charter members of Rowrbrazzle in February 1984, and he was around for some time before that, so he could make a good case for personally being one of the founders of furry fandom. Not for the whole Tucson Mob, though they do go back to 1986 or '87, as I recall - maybe earlier.
Fred Patten
Hiya Fred
You are correct. Jim was involved early on. He has the habit of making some rather outrageous claims, so that wouldn't be out of line for him.
I know no one else in the Mob would have made such claims.
I remember during the 1992 Worldcon in Orlando when Jim Groat solemnly told Pete Stoller and me how he was kidnapped by aliens one night to be experimented on. One of his proofs was a scar on his forehead, which he said was caused by the aliens dropping him when they were carrying him out of his bedroom to their flying saucer. Stoller said, "Well, Jim, YOU believe it, so I won't say any more."
Fred Patten
I have been witness to much of Groat's hijinks. He is, IMHO, unable to tell the truth from one of his many fabrications. More than once I was there as he attempted to lie his way out of even mundane and seemingly insignificant events. It seems that has all come home to roost with his nasty divorce. I really feel for his (soon-to-be) Ex-wife.
I hope you are well, Fred.
Is there any truth to the claim that Ted Sheppherd was hiding numerous pieces of property of Mr. Groat's, in an attempt to hide evidence of Mr. Groat's monetary assets? I imagine the lawyers are specficaally trying to track down a Sten and a few other firearms, as well as some collectibles.
If you really feel sorry for his wife, you'd help them locate the numerous hidden assets.
Ted was holding a Sten submachinegun for Jim, as Jim may not own it in Madison Wisconsin.
This was approved by the BATFE and was legal. The sten was there (in Ted's possession) before Jim was married. The Sten was seized by the BATFE during the search warrant execution.
Jim told me a "cop buddy" of his was going to procure and store the Sten (getting it from the BATFE's possession). Ted did not have any other "collectible" property belonging to Jim.
I have no knowledge of any other weapons belonging to Groat being held at Ted's place, which is small and I would have known about it if there were.
Jim does have other friends in Wisconsin and surrounding States. While I have no proof he has been hiding his assets, I would be of no use to his ex-wife's lawyer.
Only met Ted once at a very soggy Confurrence in San Diego about 13 years ago. Don't know him hardly at all. But I will not condemn somebody for anything until they're convicted. Duke Lacross team anyone? A nationwide media circus totally from the mind of one person who made it all up. Yes, this situation is different but I'm not writing off anyone until it's over.
And for what it's worth, I have an "inert" hand grenade (it's hollow with a big hole drilled in the bottom)I got back in '75 when I was in high school. I look at it and I see a paper-weight and a memento of my days in the JROTC but it's a "potential explosive device" in the eyes of law enforcement.
"A nationwide media circus totally from the mind of one person who made it all up"
One person made it up, and an entire witch-hunt posse glommed on the fake story. They were just that thirsty for blood. It was way wider than one deranged liar (who's now in jail for murdering her boyfriend.) Uggh!
I apologize, But I have no idea what you are referring to....
Just google Duke Lacrosse, and be disappointed with society for a minute.
Ahhhh! I recall now!
I remember that CF. It rained all weekend and the con hotel was a sprawling affair. I loved it. We drove there together like we always did.
There is new information, but I am withholding it until everything is final.
Okay, let me slap my two credits on this knife carved table.
I've known Ted Sheppard long enough that it was snail mail, not e-mail that was used to keep contact. Not once has he in any way indicated a preference for children as a sexual object, nor pressed such an agenda towards me.
Now, my credentials;
My father was a pedophile, I am a survivor. I was also a military police officer for some four and a half years and was involved in several such cases. As the arresting officer that is. As such I have been forced to wade through massive collections of child sex materials, several times losing my lunch, supper, midnight chow etc into the bushes. Officers appear to believe that if you experienced it then you are the perfect person to investigate it. Whatever IT happens to be, Goddess help should they sully their white gloves.
Let me add that my mother was personally, heavily, involved in the creation of the Texas law regarding Battered women and children and I have sat through countless meetings of her 'friends.' Those friends being Lawyers, Judges, a few State Representatives, Police Chiefs (useless git) and at least one Congressman.
All this does not make me an expert, what it does make me is very observant as to the evidence.
A child predator does not have ten images that they quickly deleted, they have thousands, tens of thousands in many cases. They have hard copy photos, they have movies, they have an M.O. They have children's clothes, underware, toys, candy out the wazoo to start.
Mr. Sheppard has/had none of the above.
Not being a gun nut, I don't even own one, as I hunted two legged prey in the far east, mainly the PI, I cannot say anything about Mr. Sheppard's hobby, nor his politics. You see I am a Monarchist myself, a Whig. I personally believe that we should have a royal family, so that we have perfect targets for the rotten tomatoes when things go pear shaped, like the last eleven years.
I do not believe that Mr. Sheppard is guilty of anything more than foolishly downloading a torrent, one that claimed it held one kind of sex, but was packed with another. As to how this might happen, Madonna's "What the Hell do you think you're doing" file on Napster comes easily to mind. As does almost all of Traci Lords porn work. His only fault was not contacting the police when he discovered what he had, then Mr. Sheppard is a reclusive, shy man with little trust of the police. He simply deleted the files not understanding how MicroCrap does not do file removal.
Jump this way, jump that but in the name of the Nine Gods of Terra, DO NOT PREJUDGE! I believe that you Christians have a saying, "Judge not lest ye be judged?" One of these days a bunch of you are going to follow that law, then the universe will implode.
As one Judge told me last month while we were discussing this, "It appears to me, in the cases that I have seen these last twenty plus years, The United States is moving to Napoleonic Law, where you are Guilty until you prove yourself innocent."
END OF LINE
I like how you type "do not prejudge" in all caps then single out a particular group in your next sentence.
One of my best friends growing up was secretly raping children on the side.
Nobody had a freaking clue.
So. Sorry, I don't care how much anyone knows or knew someone else, I'm unsurprised by things nowadays. Learned that the hard way when I had to answer questions for a detective.
Let's see how the trial goes.
Napoleonic Law? NeoConservative Law actually, but I digress...
Mike Nifong, the disgraced and dis-barred, ex-district attorney who lead the legal witch-hunt against the Duke Lacross Team (see above) was a Democrat. The faculty members of Duke (The Group of 88) who wrote the utterly unfounded and incredibly prejudicial add in the local newspaper condemning the players before the investigation was even complete were almost all "liberals". Leave politics out of this. Witch-hunts as well as prejudging and premature leaps to conclusions can come from ANY wavelength of the political spectrum.
Ted Sheppard was admitted to an Arizona minimum security prison on 06/10/2014 with a release date of 08/02/2018. He was found guilty of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (unknown number of charges). Inmate information can be found below.
https://corrections.az.gov/public-resources/inmate-datasearch
From all of the news and comments here, it looks like his computer was found by the Arizona police to have explicit photographs or videos of child pornography on it. There is even doubt whether the pictures were uploaded onto his computer by him, or by someone else without his knowledge. Despite this, Arizona law makes him guilty of "Sexual Exploitation of a Minor". That may be legal, but it does not sound like justice to me. Who is/are the minor(s) that he sexually exploited? Have whoever took the photographs been apprehended?
Fred Patten
He pled guilty to this charge. Did not fight it. Did not deny it was his. Part of the alocution process is that you must actually provide details of what you did.
It's his kiddie porn. He did it.
This is the last comment I will post, You armchair judges have so disgusted me that I feel I owe you no explanation, however, for those who do not sit in judgement, uniformed, like an ass, I submit this final statement.
Accepting the plea deal was Ted's lawyer's advice. Single men our age would likely be seen as guilty by many juries, despite any evidence to the contrary. A jury trial could have sent Ted away for far longer. This and the fact that Ted cannot financially cover an ongoing and costly defense made his decision for him. The PROSECUTION was forced to offer a reduced plea deal for what they called "possession", and cut their original time in prison in half.
I attended the hearing in which Ted was sentenced. His Judge TWICE stated on the record that this was not justice. The Judge stated that the sentence was "needlessly harsh" and that the prosecution could not prove that there was ever any intent to gain/collect/upload any porn. The Judge ordered the Defense to submit a claim to the State Clemency board on Ted's behalf. The Court Bailiff later confided that in over 15 years of court service he had NEVER seen or heard of any Judge saying this. The Judge chastised the Prosecutor, who looked as though he had been slapped.
So all you who sit in judgement, not knowing anything of Ted's character, who smugly assume his guilt as it somehow edifies your personal feelings against Ted, I say this.
You weren't there. You don't know. You are mistaken. I sincerely hope none of you ever have to deal with anything like this total farce of an example of "justice". A good man's life has be RUINED. If you choose to gloat over this, so be it. I will not attempt to argue with you any further. It is not worth my time.
Your condemnation of Ted over this should keep you awake at night, It can happen to ANY of us who download files on the net.
I hope karma will make you ante up for your misinformed judgements.
I suspected something happening along those lines. Pity. I have personal experience of people who have had to cop a plea because they could not afford defense or could not take the chance in a trial. And don't for one minute think that some prosecutors do not use that to "win" cases. Sounds like a good case to bring before the pardon board - particularly with those comments from the judge. (No - the ORDER from the judge.) I wish Ted luck with it.
Sir, I do not know you, but I appreciate your understanding. Should be ever meet, I owe you a drink.
If it is accurate, sorry to hear about this. We can let the judge's words stand for any opinion that needs to be explained. It's a disgusting, disgraceful comment on the justice system.
Now try to get justice by suing for it - same problem with the cost of legal fees.
I've unearthed a huge amount of info about a predatory scammer who's been abusing the general fan community (including a lot of furries) for almost a decade - involving million-dollar properties - but nobody has assembled enough complaint in one place to push it where it needs to go.
State bars themselves are part of the problem - confidentiality prevents saying more here, but believe it - they are awful.
I would hear more about this if you please. How do we contact one another privately?
That was from me, btw....
Thanks, could use help :) - patch.ofurr at gmail
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