http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=30408§ion=NEWS&subsection=NEWS&year=2003&month=3&day=17
Monday, March 17, 2003 Child-porn tipster tells role in ex-judge's case Whether he worked on behalf of law enforcement has taken center stage in charges against O.C.'s Ronald Kline. By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI The Orange County Register The self-styled computer cop stared at his screen in disbelief after downloading the private diary. Entries described the physiques of young boys splashing about in a pool the author sitting naked in a nearby Jacuzzi, fantasizing about touching their private parts. "I've seen occasional writings about children, but I've never seen a diary like that," said Brad Willman, 23, of Langley, British Columbia. "He went into such length about his fascination with children. Then I realized he was a judge." Willman, at first known only as "Citizen Tipster" to police, anonymously forwarded excerpts of the diary of former Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline to a pedophile-watchdog Web site. Until the Kline investigation, Willman - who said he has hacked into at least 2,000 computers of people worldwide who collect child pornography - lived in relative anonymity, forwarding collected files on suspected child pornographers to sex-offender watchdog groups under different pseudonyms. Now, his credibility, and whether he worked on behalf of law enforcement, has taken center stage in the federal case against Kline,who is charged with possessing pornographic images of children on his home and courthouse computers. Kline also faces state charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy nearly a quarter-century ago. He maintains that he is innocent in both cases. Kline's defense team argues that Willman was a police "deep throat" who illegally hacked into Kline's computer, violating his Fourth Amendment rights. Attorneys representing the government paint a different portrait of Willman, one of a "troubled and confused young boy" who acted alone when he dug into Kline's hard drive. U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo Marshall in Los Angeles is expected to issue a ruling today onwhether the tipster was working as a govern ment agent when he accessed Kline's home computer. If the judge agrees that Willman was a police informant, prosecutors may not be able to use any computer evidence in the federal trial. Probe snowballed Willman's tip created a snowball effect, giving authorities enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for Kline's Irvine home, where they found about 1,500 electronic photos of nude boys, some engaging in sex acts. The then-sitting judge was subsequently charged with six federal counts of possession of child pornography in November 2001. Three months later, Kline was also slapped with five charges of child molestation, after a 37-year-old man who heard about the jurist's federal arrest came forward, alleging that Kline assaulted him when he was 14. Police say Willman had a limited role in the investigation: "(He) gave us a starting point and that was it,'' said Irvine Detective Ron Carr. "Maybe we wouldn't have gotten the diary so quickly, but what he did was illegal. If he was in California, he'd be prosecuted." In his first interview with a U.S. newspaper, Willman, who lives with his parents in their suburban Vancouver home, said he taught himself to hack when he was 14. The youngest of four children and a computer technician, Willman said he spends at least eight hours a night in his bedroom in front of his computer, which has a DSL line and an 18-inch flat screen. Posters of George Harrison and acoustic guitars hang on the walls. Clothing and computer parts, circuit boards and hard drives litter the floor. As a side business, Willman builds and repairs personal computers. He said he began targeting online child predators as a 16-year-old after he created a hacking program, generically referred to as "Trojan Horse." At first it was interesting, but with success, he said, it has brought a sense of fulfillment. Willman started by posting the program, disguised as a thumbnail image of a seemingly naked body, on several Web sites visited by pedophiles. The new software monitored the Internet access and e-mail of people who downloaded the image. Willman watched people's activity and started files on those he thought either produced child pornography or were child molesters. He then would e-mail the files to pedophile watchdog groups, who would forward the information to police. Mounties tipped off Three years ago, authorities confirm, Willman tipped off Royal Canadian Mounted Police to a man in Edmonton, Canada, who was offering his 8-year-old daughter to Willman for sex. The man's arrest and conviction gave Willman more incentive. A high school graduate, Willman said he never had a clear life focus until he became a hacker. "I felt pretty good for helping that kid," Willman said. "I thought I could use my program to help other people." Kline came up on Willman's radar screen in May 2000, when Kline downloaded the Trojan Horse program. Through the program, Willman extracted and copied portions of Kline's diary. In some entries, the author describes frequent stints working as an umpire, as well as his infatuation with the bodies of child athletes. As the author kept writing new entries, Willman kept reading. "He kept talking about his fantasies more and more," Willman said. "It raised my concern. I wanted to prevent something from happening." Using the screen name Omnipotent, Willman e-mailed 90 pages of Kline's diary to pedowatch.com, a sex-offender watchdog Web site, in March 2001. The Web site forwarded the diary to the Irvine Police Department. The case was assigned to Detective Carr. It took three months for Carr to track Willman down. Finally, he matched Omnipotent to a personal Web site registered to Willman. That August, Carr flew up to Langley. Carr, who initially thought the tipster was possibly someone who knew Kline, describes Willman as a shy, unassuming youth. "He was very surprised that he was found out,'' said Carr. "He seemed like most hackers I've come across, who do it mainly because they can." Carr took Willman's two hard drives as evidence and says he told Willman to stop accessing Kline's computer. Canadian police also told Willman if he continued hacking at all, he would be arrested. Carr said he found dozens of child pornography photos on Willman's hard drives and alerted Canadian authorities. Willman said the photos were part of his investigations into possible pedophiles. Canadian authorities have not prosecuted Willman for hacking or for possessing pornography. Willman says he has stopped hacking - reluctantly. While he knows what he did was illegal, Willman said he thinks he served a greater good by helping protect children."These people abuse their trust and post their photos on the Internet, and sometimes molest them," Willman said, adding that he was never a victim of child molestation. "Kids can be too embarrassed to say what happens." Kline, who served one six-year term as a judge, bowed out of last November's county election for his seat. He is now allowed to leave his home in a quiet Turtle Rock cul-de-sac only for doctor's visits or to meet with his attorneys. A GPS device is shackled to his ankle. Kline faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted of possessing child pornography, as well as 14 years in prison if convicted of the child molestation charges. Willman said he was acting in the public's best interest by monitoring Kline, as well as the countless others he suspected were child pornographers or molesters. "If police can't do it, someone should watch these people," he said.
