Accused child predators are crying foul at the FBI
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — When Daryl Glenn Pawlak logged into a large child pornography website and downloaded images using his work computer, he was charged with receipt and possession of child pornography.
The operator of the website that was exploiting children, however, was not arrested.
That’s because it was the FBI. And federal prosecutors are defending the agency’s decision to secretly hijack and peddle child porn for two weeks as part of a sting operation. During that time, tens of thousands of images of child pornography were uploaded to the site.
“Not only was the government the largest distributor of child pornography … it was also the largest exploiter of children,” Mr. Pawlak’s attorney said in a court filing. “This conduct is the essence of outrageousness, and a serious need for deterrence exists.”
The case has ignited debate among scholars and defense attorneys about internet privacy and the FBI’s decision to keep such a website up and running while more children were harmed.
Dozens of defense attorneys have filed motions to suppress evidence from the controversial child pornography sting, called Operation Pacifier. In some cases, federal judges have granted those motions. But most attempts to get charges thrown out have failed, legal experts say, even though some judges have ruled the government violated the law and acted inappropriately.
Joining legal challenges nationwide, Mr. Pawlak’s attorneys are trying to get the charges dismissed, arguing that the government went too far by using a single warrant in Virginia to hack the computers of people all over the country, including his client.
The FBI declined to comment about Operation Pacifier. The U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas said in court filings that it acted within the law and that dismissing the case would give people like Mr. Pawlak a “free pass” for trolling the web for photos and videos of children being sexually abused.
“The FBI’s process here should be encouraged, not deterred,” a prosecutor in Dallas said in a court filing.
Historically, the government has taken down such websites immediately.