Jury convicts woman who tried to frame husband by putting child porn on his computer

[davidn3600]

INDIANA, Pa. A Pennsylvania woman has been found guilty of downloading child pornography in a failed attempt to frame her estranged husband.

Meri Jane Woods, of Clymer, was convicted Wednesday in Indiana County.

District Attorney Patrick Dougherty says the 43-year-old Woods downloaded 40 images to the family computer, took it to police last August and blamed Matthew Woods for the material.

But when police examined time stamps, they determined the images had been downloaded more than two weeks after Meri Woods had her husband kicked out of their home with a protection-from-abuse order.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/08/21/5119797/jury-woman-downloaded-child-porn.html#.U_ZZZGOHcVo


She faces up to 9 years in prison and may be forced to register as a sex offender after release.

[hobbit709]

1. not the brightest person on the block.

[yeoman6987]

17. She is just nasty

Only 9 years for potentially ruining this guys life forever? I think it should be 30 to life....I mean does everyone understand what would have happened if he were caught with that junk on his computer???? Life as he knows it over.

[dsc]

2. she should get exactly what he would have gotten had he been convicted

since she did the exact thing she framed him for.

[unblock]

9. sounds like she committed at least *two* crimes

first, downloading child porn; second, trying to frame her husband.

[Kablooie]

3. How the hell did she know where to get the porn?

That in itself is suspicious.

[LeftofObama]

11. That's exactly what I was thinking.

I've always been under the impression that those who watch/collect child pornography were in an extremely secretive environment where precautions were taken not to be caught. It seems odd to me that this woman was able to just log on and download some pictures and call it a day.

[Kalidurga]

4. Well she is a sex offender

too bad they don't have a register as a horrid human being registry.

[hobbit709]

5. The horrid human being registry is also known as the Republican Party.

[Kalidurga]

6. LOL

seriously I have conservative friends and they are becoming embarrassed by their party.

[Silent3]

8. If she were tech savvy enough to change the time stamps, which isn't difficult to do...

...her husband would probably be in jail now, and would have had is life ruined.

This is why I'm strongly opposed to any laws that make mere possession of anything a crime, be it porn, drugs, or anything else that can easily be planted or accidentally end up in someone's possession.

No matter how difficult the burden of proof would often be to demonstrate deliberate acquisition and knowing possession, that should be a standard for conviction, no matter how many guilty people would "get away with it".

[Hoppy]

10. I second that suggestion.

[sendero]

12. I was thinking..

.... the exact same thing. Frame ups like this are easy, and the only reason she failed was she didn't fix the timestamps.

[dilby]

13. Hope she gets all 9 years and has to register.

She went out of her way to view images of children being abused just so she would get back at her ex. That makes her lower than low, I hope she does not have children, I could never imagine seeing images like that and using them to try and frame someone else.

[lpbk2713]

14. I think the backwards 'B' on her cheek gave her away.

[AngryAmish]

15. Highly doubt she will get any time.

[trumad]

16. knew it was you before I even clicked on.

[Nye Bevan]

18. I wonder how many men are in prison having been similarly framed?

If the person who framed them was a little cleverer with the time stamps?

[BainsBane]

19. a miniscule fraction of the numbers

currently molesting children.

[sibelian]

21. Fair enough.

So long as it's a miniscule fraction I guess we'll just leave them there. After all, we wouldn't want news of their situation to overshadow public awareness of paedophilia, would we? If we publicised the framing of innocent men accused of paedophilia that might make paedophilia look less serious. I guess.

[NaturalHigh]

20. Well, she screwed up big time.

Maybe she'll have a little time to reflect and realize the error of her ways for the next several years.

[davidpdx]

22. The original article from the Indiana Gazette

A Clymer woman faces a maximum of nine years in prison and could face sanctions under Megan’s Law after being convicted of charges related to child pornography Tuesday in Indiana County Court.

A jury of six men and six women returned a guilty verdict against Meri Jane Woods, 43, of Route 580, after about 1ﾽ hours of deliberations.

Police and prosecutors said Woods had tried to frame her husband, Matthew Woods, about one year ago when she told investigators that he had downloaded images of child pornography to the computer in their home.

Using technological investigative techniques, police computer experts almost immediately ruled out Matthew Woods’ involvement by finding the images date-stamped between Aug. 11 and 14, 2013.

Matthew Woods had been forced from the home before that time by a protection-from-abuse order, prosecutors told the jury.

snip

The jury convicted Meri Woods of a felony count of sexual abuse of children/possession of child pornography and a misdemeanor count of unsworn falsification to law enforcement.

Dougherty said that charge is punishable by up to two years in jail and a $5,000 fine, while the felony conviction could bring up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Judge Thomas Bianco scheduled sentencing for Dec. 15 to allow time for an evaluation of Woods by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which could recommend mandatory registration with the state police for up to 15 years, Dougherty said.

http://www.indianagazette.com/news/police-courts/woman-guilty-of-downloading-child-porn,20450234/