Identity Theft Protection Lock

Eight month’s ago in Orlando, Florida, U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway sentenced a 33 year old North Carolina man to 110 years’ imprisonment for three counts of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of unlawful computer intrusions, and one count of possession of child pornography. The man pled guilty in two criminal cases. In one case, he pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture child pornography and two counts of unlawful computer intrusions.

The man pled guilty to the second case to two counts of manufacture of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. According to the plea agreements that he executed in those two cases, the man was involved in a conspiracy where he and another individual used their computer skills to entice female minors into engaging in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of manufacturing child pornography that they could collect. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Seminole County Sheriff’s Office began investigating a series of computer intrusions that were occurring to computers used by female minors who resided in Brevard County.

The pattern was similar for each of the victims who was identified. The victim was contacted by a person who sent an e-mail or instant message (IM) communication. The person would trick the victim into opening a file that contained a Trojan horse program that would give the man who had sent it access to, and control over, the victim’s computer. With the access and control established, the man who sent the Trojan horse to be installed would try to persuade the minor to manufacture child pornography. While the investigation was ongoing the investigators interviewed several female minors who were victims of this scheme.

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To follow-up on those interviews, investigators imaged the computers of those victims, assumed the identities of some of the victims, and recorded the results of what happened once an agent went online using the identity of one of the victims. In addition, investigators obtained information about the e-mail accounts and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the computer intrusions. This information pointed to the convicted man as one of the sources of the computer intrusions. A federal search warrant was executed at the man’s home in North Carolina. While examining the items that were seized pursuant to that search warrant, investigators found a folder on the mans external hard drive called “apps” that included copies of various computer hacking tools and a different folder called “hax” that included subfolders for each of his victims.

Further analysis of his external hard drive and other investigation the investigator’s established that he worked together with another individual to hack into the computers of female minors for the purpose of persuading and coercing those minors to manufacture child pornography that they could collect. As of the end of November 2007, agents are able to say that the man was involved in hacking into the computers of over 100 victims over the past couple of years. It was discovered that he also used a computer program that allowed him to check the Internet for web cameras, so that he could record children and adults without their knowledge.

In addition to collecting the child pornography that the man and his coconspirator were able to persuade or entice female minors into making and sending to them, he had an extensive collection of child pornography of his own that included over 600 images of child pornography, including images that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct. The man also manufactured his own child pornography. Found on the man’s external hard drive were video and photo files of some of the instances where he engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a female minor victim, including a video file involving bestiality.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg. This prosecution was part of an initiative that was begun by former Attorney General John Ashcroft who, on July 20, 2001, announced the creation of Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) units in ten districts to respond to the grave threat and challenge presented by internet and high-tech crime. Since that announcement, the CHIP Program has been expanded to almost every district in the nation.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has designated four of its prosecutors as CHIP attorneys and has tasked them with coordinating the investigation and prosecution of computer hacking and intellectual property crimes in the district.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Identity Thieves in prison. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.