Retired Cop, Working For Christian School, Busted For Child Porn

[matcom]

<snip>

A former Illinois police officer and computer gatekeeper for a Kenosha Christian school was charged Tuesday with 26 counts of possession of child pornography.

Newton B. Tench, 63, of Pleasant Prairie, was charged based on images from a three-ring binder taken from a padlocked room in his basement, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kenosha County Circuit Court.

State officials and Pleasant Prairie police searched Tench’s home Sunday. They used a warrant based on a nearly 2½-year investigation into Tench’s Internet activities, including alleged downloading of child porn.

Federal agents began their investigation in October 2003 after they reviewed customer databases for a company called Regpay. According to the criminal complaint, the company owns and runs members-only Internet sites that feature child pornography.

Investigators found Tench’s name on a Regpay customer database for the now-defunct Web site www.darkfeeling.com. For an estimated fee of $57.90, viewers got a single-month membership “to a child pornography Web site that gives an offender an almost unlimited opportunity to save as many images as possible,” the complaint says.

Agents later traced Tench’s credit card number and payment to ISERVE, an American billing company that reportedly laundered money for Russian-based child porn Web sites operated through Regpay, according to federal agents quoted in the complaint.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Shelly Rusch could not discuss how many others might have been snared in the federal investigation. However, she said, “it’s a huge operation, and it involves more than one guy in Kenosha County. I can guarantee you that.”

As many as 40,000 Americans could be implicated in the Regpay investigation, according to a Wall Street Journal report. So far, 1,400 people worldwide have been arrested for downloading child porn from Regpay sites, including about 330 Americans.

Rusch said there was no evidence that Tench downloaded porn or did anything else illegal while working at Christian Life School.

http://kenoshanews.com/articles/index.php?articleNum=5181

[REDKING]

1. What is wrong with these people?

Sick.