Ill. soldier's family says pictures aren't (child) porn

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The family of an Illinois National Guard soldier said Friday that he's been charged with possession of child pornography in Afghanistan over innocent snapshots of a 4-year-old relative in a swimsuit.

The U.S. Army has charged Spec. Billy Miller of Galesburg, Ill., with possession of child pornography and a related charge of failure to obey an order that troops in Afghanistan not possess pornography.

... Miller's father, Rodney, said the Army won't discuss the case with the family. But he said his son has told him the charges stem from a handful of photos of the girl that the soldier's mother e-mailed to ease his homesickness.

"I can't believe that the Army's doing this to our son; it's unbelievable," Rodney Miller said from his home in Galesburg, about 55 miles south of Davenport, Iowa. "The Army and the government's telling us more or less that it's none of our business."

The pictures show the girl in a swimsuit playing in a pool and sitting on Billy Miler's pickup truck, according to the family. A small portion of one of the girl's buttocks is visible in one, Rodney Miller said.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/827/story/2465848.html

[Rhiannon12866]

1. This is incredibly stupid.

I've even seen naked pictures that relatives take of their babies and small children; that doesn't mean that they're pornographic... :eyes:

[wordpix]

38. there's more to this story than this soldier's talking to his family about

No doubt the soldier's not coming clean with his family. I doubt the military wants to prosecute someone over a pic of a girl in a swimsuit. :crazy:

[Rhiannon12866]

42. That has yet to come out, but you may be right...

Because, as described, this case is just silly. Certainly any soldier is likely to carry photos of their small children... :shrug:

[depakid]

46. I don't know- these sorts of stories were commonplace during the witchhunts of the 80's & 90's

There seemed to be a child pornographer behind every family camera.

[Rhiannon12866]

47. True.

I saw one of those MSNBC shockmentaries on that, one weekend when there was nothing else on... x(

As someone else said, there may be more to this... It can't be uncommon for soldiers to carry photos of their small children with them... :shrug:

[TexasObserver]

49. You are inventing that out of thin air.

You have utterly no basis for your supposition.

The military can and does make horrific errors of judgment, with great frequency.

You don't know whether there is anything to this or not.

[NashVegas]

40. Grandmothers and Their "It's a BOY!" Pictures

of infants. I guess my mom was a perv.

[Rhiannon12866]

43. I've seen those, too...

Parents may think they're adorable, and they are pretty common, but they are definitely cringe-worthy as their child gets older. x(

[paulsby]

2. that's insane

there have been cases of film developers calling police because somebody turns in film with pictures of their young child taking a bath or whatever. when i grew up, i knew a family that was nudist (in the house). they just walked around nekkid a lot. no big deal

[Wizard777]

19. Yes it is. That's why I'm think the REAL issue is this guy not going to the right Church.

For them to put him through the grinder like that. It sound like the retaliatory crap the Zealots do to people that go to the wrong Church.

[xsquid]

30. Church?

I was in the military 12 years and at all of my commands the church services were just visited by a handfull of people. I never even heard of anything church being pressured, I think you are clutching at something thats not there.

[krabigirl]

44. Are you kidding? The military nowadays has been infiltrated by fundies.

[xsquid]

48. I think you people are just paranoid

then again I am speaking from actual military experience, how long did you serve?

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. Hubby did 21 in the USN

and especially the AF has a problem

May I also cite General Boykin's ahem wisdom about his god being better than theirs?

Like oh the good general is a LtGen... there were a few other comments that would have earned the good man a Chicken Dinner a few years back.

[Rhiannon12866]

45. I've heard about this, too...

That there has become a definite pro-Christian movement in the armed forces. I find this disturbing, but it reflects the rise of the fundamentalist movement in this country... :scared:

Questions Raised Anew About Religion in Military
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/washington/01church.html

[dflprincess]

41. Didn't that just happen recently at Walmart? n/t

[boppers]

3. Zero tolerance = zero intelligence

Looks pretty simple.

[varelse]

7. +1

[Confusious]

15. I like that one +1..................eom

[hvn_nbr_2]

28. Zero tolerance = zero intelligence = zero common sense = zero clues. nt

[xsquid]

33. Agreed, zero tolerance is for people that can't think for themselves nt

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Robb]

24. How exactly do you figure that? nt

[xsquid]

31. Not a right, left or church thing as has been insinuated

but an idiocy thing. In 12 years I never saw decisions made based on idiology, but saw plenty of decisions made based on idiocy.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[midnight]

5. This poor family.... Sending photos of family in swimsuits is wrong, but

then expecting this soldier to turn around and kill is right.... Please bring these troops home, and stop this insanity....

[Prospero1]

6. Let me get this striaght....

pictures of a relative in a bathing suit merit prosecution but actual torture and rape get swept under the rug? The Army needs to get their priorities in order.

[valerief]

9. BINGO! It's Bizarro World. nt

[dencol]

10. And orders of no porn at all?!?

That is crazy! Human factors seem totally lost on the military.

[Wizard777]

18. not only that. If he were a terrorist he would be tried in the US.

[Downwinder]

8. Then they wonder why they have workplace violence.

Course I think I was borderline postal all of the time I was in the military.

[vadawg]

12. rofl, yup porn and copious amounts of beer were the life savers

how i miss the giant porn collections that filled whole rooms and were passed on to other units

[dogfacedboy]

11. If I'm this guy, I tell the Nat. Guard to stick it up their ass, and quit.

Fuck their contract, fuck their rules, and fuck them!

[Xicano]

13. And if I were in your Platoon I would join you.

It'll be; "Fuck you I'm with him."

[Ozymanithrax]

14. He is charged with a serious crime, and, if convicted, could quit after...

a tour of duty in Levenworth or some other Federal Prison.

[Rapier09]

16. A country that turns on its army

Will result in an army that turns on its country.

[carla]

25. May the universe

grant America the karma it has earned...

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. This will go a long way to fix the problems in Afganistan

[BadgerKid]

20. Sounds like a call for MYOB

due to this apparent overreaction.

[LiberalFighter]

21. Who the hell is the idiot that turned him in?

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[southerncrone]

55. Welcome to DU !

Your rant speaks volumes about what is REALLY happening in our military & "the war machine".
I so wish we'd get out of these unnecessary wars as rapidly as possible.

[MetaTrope]

22. Best keep children in burqas until they're 18

That way our government officials can't be tempted by Satan's underage fruit.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. And he's already been kept in Afghanistan an extra 5 months because of this

"Miller's unit returned to Illinois in August, according to the National Guard, but the Army said he remains in Afghanistan, awaiting the end of his case and possible court martial."

And the family point out that if they hold a trial in Afghanistann, he can't call his unit members as character witnesses, since they're in the wrong continent.

[onehandle]

26. And Dick Cheney walks around free.

Not that I know for sure that his 'man sized safe' was stuffed with child pornography.

Not for sure.

[ectoendomezo]

27. Welcome To The Surveillance State!

So...

Look..Folks! We COULD make this kind of..PSYCHOTIC abuse of power by our ever more 'Intrusive' Government..'Go Away'..by simply refusing to SIT on ANY..'Grand Jury'..'Jury'..etc..that deals with the 'Case'..this is actually a Constitutional Right...Look it up! Jury Nullification!

Many on the Right..rant about this..and, frankly..have given this power..kind of a Bad name..their desire to see Jury Nullification used for Religious reasons..for Homophobic and Minority hating land owners..etc...

But..this kind of INSANE overreaction from the ANY branch of the Federal Government IS actually a REALLY good example of why The Founders Designed the system this way..to allow for another "Check" on the Power of the 'Law'...at its most critical moment..IN COURT!

But..alas..Americans..are..well..its really looking like basically.."ITS OVER!" The Public just doesn't CARE! Not really..not if it means ACTUALLY.."Learning" about something they CAN DO! And then DOING it! Nope!

Another aspect of this..is WHAT is the MILITARY REALLY...ACTUALLY...So Angry at this Soldier..About? What is the REAL reason for this Smear Campaign and what is becoming a definite 'TACTIC' of the Federal Government..the "Oops! We came across this PERVERSE SEXUAL MATERIAL...So..you are now no longer a VALID threat as your credibility is forever a 'Question' especially to the ever present and ever more slanted Govcorp 5th Column formerly known as "The 4th Estate"...al the "Media" will ever need to do...say in The case of a 'Whistleblower'..is to INSINUATE..or DISCUSS..some 'Charge' or 'ongoing Investigation' into ANY Sexual Deviance...even UNPROVEN and..as we see here..COMPLETELY..UNFOUNDED! As in NOT REAL! FAKE! PRETEND! A LIE!

So..from Eliot Spitzer's "Accidental" inclusion on FBI Wiretaps..of course JUST as he was ABOUT to go after WALL STREET..JUST before the whole crooked show was REVEALED...Ooops..he's a Whore-monger! There goes THAT "Threat" to Business As Usual!

Same for MANY..and this type of.."ASYMETRICAL DAMAGE CONTROL" against Whistle-blowers! Unions! etc..is made Infinitely more 'Effective' with the uncovering of the FEW..'ACTUAL' cases..y'know..the infamous and seemingly quite vicious world of the 'Boys n Girls of Capitol Hill'?

So...again I ask..WHAT does he "KNOW"? Or..WHAT do they THINK he "Knows"? What did he SEE? What did he HEAR? Why this kind of..pointless attack? This is SO POINTLESS in fact..that the very "Pointless" nature of the thing..becomes a kind of De Facto 'Proof' that this is about Something ELSE!

I mean..we KNOW..that Soldiers...IN UNIFORM..Tortured and RAPED..Underage Girls..AND Boys..a FACT! And not ONLY was it hidden by the Military..covered up...BUT..we are not "Allowed" to see the "Pictures" that were taken..again..by saying we "CAN'T see them" the Government is admitting their existance...and their "Content"..So..again..this thing..with this guy being sent pictures...by HIS MOM!!!! Is..SO..Utterly without real Criminal "Merit"..that it has just GOT to be a "PREEMPTIVE STRIKE" against whatever it is that they REALLY want from this guy! And knowing the Military..and how EVIL it has really become..it is either.."KEEP QUIET" or "TESTIFY THIS WAY ABOUT THIS..."

Finally..the silver lining here..and there is sort of one...is that..THE RIGHT WING..THE CORPORATE MILITARIZED GOVERNMENT...IS.."SELF CANIBALIZING"..They turn each other IN!..They Rat Each other OUT! They have each other ARRESTED! A constant and Vicious Power Struggle..THAT is ONE of the Mortal Fatal Flaw's of this kind of "GOVCORP" We have begun to change into...They ALWAYS TURN on EACH OTHER! This proves it! They'll Eat Eachother..the Snake Eating Itself!

[eilen]

29. There is something else going on ...

the pictures are definitely being used to hang him but for why? There are other things they are not reporting. I don't believe this is the actionable incident for a minute. I think there is something else and they could maybe only find this or do not want to reveal the actual reason.

Pictures sent by his mother alone would not merit this disciplinary action.

[xsquid]

32. I think it's just another case of

someone "going strictly by the book" based in initial interpretation rather than actually thinking about it and using common sense. I enjoyed my time in the military, but there's not a shortage of officers with no common sense.

[truedelphi]

35. Pornography rules are now so tight and restrictive that almost

All of the parents of the nineteen fifties era could be hit with such charges.

It was just routine to have your baby potographed naked on a bear rug.
Now we have retrictive laws, and often, the penalty falls on someone who is the most innocent.

A local teacher here, beloved of high school kids, happened to be sitting and watching some mild porn on TV when several of his students stopped by for help on some school project. His girlfriend did not turn off the porn while the high school age minors were in the house.

So he got busted for contributing to the delinquency of mionors and several other charges, and now is sitting in jail! Even though it was only palying in the background and not really being watched. (One kid toold another how cool it was that Mr X had the porn on - and that kid told their parents, and then all hell broke lose.)

Was it smart to not turn off the TV while minors were in the house. No it was not smart.

But several years in jail, and when he comes out he cannot teach, etc. Plus he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

All because of this prudery.

[TxRider]

52. Yup

My mom used to embarrass me regularly when we showed family slides with the one of me as a newly walking toddler banging on a toy piano in the buff.

She would be arrested today as a child pornographer.

[wordpix]

39. +1

[Odin2005]

36. What the hell?

[shadesofgray]

37. If it's porn why wasn't the mother arrested?

[ectoendomezo]

50. EXACTLY!

To MOI' That say's it ALL!

WHY was the Mother not arrested if this is "PORN"?

Nope! I'm tellin ya folks..THIS IS 'ASYMMETRICAL DAMAGE CONTROL' for some OTHER "issue"..and I am BETTING...Dollars to Doughnut Holes..its some bit of nasty CORRUPTION that this hapless Soldier cam across or "Knows" about...or was a "Witness" to SOMETHING...

Seriously..this is..SOMETHING ELSE...as sure as I am sitting here now..this is a "CONTROL AND CONTAIN" Scenario...and if it were I...this attack by his "Superiors" being SO Transparent...I would ABSOLUTELY let loose my Mighty Yawp! And Drop The Hammer On The Actual.."GUILTY PARTIES"!

[Scurrilous]

53. Army: Family photos not basis for porn charge

<snip>

"A child pornography charge and a related count filed against an Illinois Army National Guard soldier in Afghanistan do not stem from family photos of a young relative, a U.S. Army spokesman told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

But Army spokesman Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said in an e-mail that he can't say what the charges against Specialist Billy Miller of Galesburg are based on.

"In this case however, it was important to set the record straight with regards to the photos of the (relative) being portrayed as evidence leading to child pornography charges in this case. They are not," Clementson wrote.

Miller was charged Jan. 5 with possession of child pornography and with disobeying an order prohibiting U.S. troops in Afghanistan from possessing pornography.

Miller's family previously said they believed the charges were related to photos they e-mailed him of a 4-year-old relative wearing a swimsuit. On Tuesday, they said they still don't believe Miller had child pornography on his computer."

more

[HuckleB]

54. delete -- wrong place