Photo essay: http://www.mccullagh.org/theme/larry-benedict-investigation.html
--- Part I of a series. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48946,00.html Kid Porn Suspect's Strange Saga By Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 2:00 a.m. Dec. 11, 2001 PST CANANDAIGUA, New York -- Larry Benedict is sitting cross-legged on the floor of his home in New York's picturesque Finger Lakes region, surrounded by the detritus of a once-happy life. A pair of hermit crabs scuttles about in an aquarium in the corner, left behind when his wife and son moved out. Squirreled away in a cardboard box are 15 patents he was awarded as a senior engineer at Xerox, which has told him he no longer has a job. Closer at hand is a bottle of Amitriptyline, a prescription medication to stave off depression. By far the most prominent feature in the living room of Benedict's lakeside home is a pile of paper that would reach 10 feet high if stacked. It's a record of his defense against a criminal prosecution that began in 1995. The case has thrashed his family, career and savings, and shows no sign of ending soon. Uncle Sam has accused the 44-year-old engineer of swapping computer disks containing images of minors engaged in sexual activities. [...] Police destroyed vital evidence that could have shown Benedict was innocent. One investigator incorrectly informed a grand jury that there was written evidence linking Benedict to child pornography, even though none was ever found. A postal inspector told a grand jury that Benedict confessed to trading child pornography while in the presence of state police witnesses. The state troopers insist it never happened. Files and entire directories mysteriously appeared on seized computers while they were stored in police evidence rooms. It took prosecutors nearly five years to uncover illegal image files on Benedict's PC -- in an obvious, top-level directory titled "GIF." [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
