DULUTH - A Duluth man is accused of possessing pornographic work involving minors.
James Richard Pappas, 56, of 96th Avenue West, made his first appearance in St. Louis County District Court on Tuesday after an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officer Dale Hanson of the Minneapolis Police Department identified a Minnesota computer on Jan. 29, 2009, as offering to participate in the distribution of child pornography. Ten files in the computer were suspected of being images or videos of child pornography.
Hanson sent an administrative subpoena to Charter Communications for the computer's Internet Protocol address, and Pappas was identified as the subscriber. A search warrant was executed at Pappas' home, and 19 items were seized, including a computer, a thumb drive and an external hard drive.
ADVERTISEMENT
The complaint alleges that Pappas admitted to investigators that he had downloaded child pornography. A forensic examination of the evidence resulted in 85 images and 17 videos of suspected child pornography being found.
The graphics and video were downloaded onto a CD and mailed to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Child Victim Identification Program in Alexandria, Va. Three images and seven videos seized from Pappas were of identified child abuse victims. Nine of the victims are prepubescent girls.
Pappas is accused of knowingly possessing a pornographic work involving minors. The crime is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years and a $5,000 fine.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 2,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.
The Duluth News Tribune and the Herald are both Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
