Epping man arrested in Internet crime
Date: February 15, 2008Source: Seacoastonline.com
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EPPING — From an office in the Portsmouth police station, a detective traced Internet videos of prepubescent girls having sex with adult men to an Epping man, leading to a Wednesday arrest and cash bail.
Portsmouth Police say Miles Empey, 62, of 133 Exeter Road, Epping confessed to using his computer to search for "rape" and "teen sex" videos, that he "did it out of curiosity" and "did not think it was illegal to download child pornography as long as you don't share it with anyone."
Empey was arraigned in Portsmouth District Court on Thursday on a felony count of possession of child pornography and ordered held on $5,000 cash and $5,000 personal recognizance bail.
According to an affidavit by Detective Mike Leclair, an undercover investigation was launched in November, to search for people sharing child pornography over the Internet. Leclair's affidavit tells the court that several "clips" of minor girls engaged in sexual activity with adult men were traced to Empey's Internet address and on Nov. 28 a search warrant was obtained and his computer seized.
During the course of a subsequent forensic investigation, illicit still and video images were found, according to court records, some with incestuous themes.
Leclair's report to the court says that on Feb. 8, he learned Empey left his home after police seized his computer and while the investigation was ongoing, and moved to a Memphis, Tenn., motel room. By calling Empey on his cell phone, Leclair persuaded him to come back to Portsmouth for an interview, during which Empey said he recalled viewing specific child pornography, but "thought he had deleted it," according to court records.
Empey is being held at the Rockingham County House of Corrections and scheduled to return to the district court for a Feb. 21 probable cause hearing.
Leclair's investigation was in concert with the state Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which last year named him "Cyber Crime Investigator of the Year."
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