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Eau Claire swim coach drowned himself after child porn arrest

8-27-2013 Wisconsin:

A man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota apparently committed suicide just hours after law enforcement officers arrested him and found photos of nude girls during a search of his house, according to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Daniel P. Weggel, 32, of Washington was an assistant high school boys swimming coach in the Eau Claire school district.

Eau Claire County sheriff's deputies seized computers and other electronics, which authorities say show Weggel hid cameras in his home, the girls' homes and other locations to secretly record them.

Weggel, found with cinder blocks tied to his legs, left a suicide note, officials said. ..Source.. by Ashley Luthern



Nude girls’ images found on drowning victim’s computer

In the confiscated computer files belonging to a 32-year-old town of Washington man who drowned Friday in Lake Wissota, authorities found images of nude underage girls among the numerous photos that appeared to have been captured without the girls’ knowledge.

Child pornography investigation continues after suspect shoots self

8-22-2013 Michigan:

WAYLAND, Michigan - A child pornography investigation turned deadly Thursday, after State Police say the suspect turned a gun on himself. Newschannel 3 broke the investigation Thursday night at 5:00. State Police say they found pictures of children on 49-year-old Tom Brown's cellphone, but were just beginning their investigation.

They say they interviewed Brown at the Hastings detatchment on Wednesday, then went to follow up at his home in Nashville Thursday morning. Shortly after they arrived, they heard a gunshot. "There was a vehicle in an attached pole barn and when they got out, they heard a shot in the pole barn," MSP Wayland Post Commander First Lieutenant Tom Draves said of Thursday morning's situation.

State Police say they found Tom Brown with a gunshot wound to the head in the pole barn outside his Nashville home. "The troopers tried to do first aid, they provided it until the ambulance got there, but he succumbed to his injuries," Lt. Draves said. They believe Brown was planning suicide after discovering a hose in the exhaust pipe of the car at the scene. State Police launched the investigation on Monday, and spoke to Brown on Wednesday.

"They did an initial scan of the cellphone and found what appeared to be child pornography," Lt. Draves said. They say it's too soon to tell whether Brown took the photos himself or if he simply downloaded them. Loved ones are shocked at the news, saying Brown, a father of five, was the first to help in a time of need, and describing him as 'funny,' and 'a family man.'

State Police will continue the investigation. They've also taken Brown's laptop to see if there are images there as well. Newschannel 3 ran Brown's criminal history Thursday afternoon. Michigan State Police records did not come up with any matches for anything on him. ..Source.. by WWMT.com

Former STA teacher charged with child pornography dies

8-16-2013 Vermont:

BARRINGTON — Daryl J. Robertson, 39, subject of a federal investigation into possession of child pornography images, died Sunday, according to an obituary submitted to area media on Thursday.

No cause of death has been confirmed. Robertson is a former resident of Greenland and Eliot, Maine, but is now listed as being a Barrington resident.

Robertson, a former teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas, was facing seven felony counts alleging possession of images of nude boys engaged in sexual behavior, according to court records. Foster’s previously reported that Robertson was charged after police conducted a search at Robertson’s former home in Greenland on Jan. 31, and found a disk containing “explicit images of minors engaged in sexual activity.”

According to the Portsmouth Herald, court records indicate that the search was initiated by federal agent Scott Kelley, of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

In an affidavit for the federal warrant, filed at U.S. District Court of New Hampshire on Jan. 31, Kelley wrote that since October 2010, he had been investigating the production and international sales of child exploitation films, according to the Herald. The films were shipped from an unspecified country to a New York warehouse, which had been raided.

Child sex abuse suspect hangs himself

8-12-2013 Virginia:

An Arlington man scheduled to stand trial in October on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child hanged himself Monday at the Johnson County Law Enforcement Center and was pronounced dead shortly after.

Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said Jay Morgan, 50, was discovered in his cell about 5:10 a.m.

Morgan, who was being held in solitary confinement, used his shirt to hang himself, Alford said.

Alford said Morgan had not attempted suicide before and was not on suicide watch. A guard discovered Morgan during the usual once every 30 minute rounds, he said.

Cleburne firefighters responded at 5:23 a.m. to find Morgan deceased with a homemade noose around his neck. Jail staff attempted to revive Morgan for several minutes without success, according to reports.

Johnson County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Ronny McBroom said he was notified of the hanging at 5:32 a.m. and arrived at the jail at 5:38 a.m.

McBroom pronounced Morgan dead at 5:40 a.m.

Lawyer Accused of Home Invasion, Sex Assault Dies in D.C. Jail

6-18-2013 Washington DC:

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Department of Labor lawyer who was accused of a home invasion at a co-worker’s home has been found dead in his cell at the D.C. Jail.

The Department of Corrections said in a statement that 58-year-old Paul Mannina of Ashton, Md., was found unresponsive on the bunk in his cell early Tuesday. The cause of death is under investigation.

Mannina had been in jail since last week. He was charged with attacking a co-worker at her northwest Washington home. According to court documents, the woman told police Mannina had a “crush” on her and that he used a stun gun on her during the attack. He was charged with first-degree burglary while armed and third-degree sexual abuse.

D.C. jail inmate found hanged in apparent suicide

6-29-2013 Washington DC:

A 42-year-old D.C. jail inmate was found dead Saturday in an apparent suicide, D.C. corrections officials said. His death came less than two weeks after another jail inmate was found dead with his throat cut.

In Saturday’s incident, Walter Calloway, of Southeast, was found hanging in his cell and could not be resuscitated. Details could not be learned. According to corrections officials and court records, he was being held on a charge of child sex abuse.

On June 18, Paul Mannina, a Labor Department lawyer charged in a sexual assault, was found dead in his cell. As of last week, no official determination of the cause of death had been made, but two knowledgeable officials said he had slashed his throat with a razor. ..Source.. by Clarence Williams and Martin Weil

Apparent suicide at D.C. Jail is third in two months

8-6-2013 Washington DC:

A 53-year-old man awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges was found hanging in his cell at the D.C. Jail on Monday, the third apparent suicide at the facility in the last two months.

Officials found Mike Johnson, of Southwest D.C., hanging in his cell and tried to resuscitate him. He was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:20 p.m. Monday. Mr. Johnson had been housed at the jail since Dec. 31. He was arrested on charges of first-degree sex abuse and later indicted on 10 counts, including kidnapping, sexual abuse and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

In July, after two other inmate suicides, the jail announced it was instituting new suicide prevention protocols. Two other men, also charged with crimes involving sexual abuse, were found dead at the jail this summer. ..Source.. by Andrea Noble

Child pornography suspect dies in federal raid in Manassas

8-2-2013 Virginia:

A man at the center of a federal child pornography investigation was killed Thursday morning as agents attempted to serve an arrest warrant at his home outside Manassas.

Douglas Clayton Lewis, 56, appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after an exchange of gunfire with agents in the 9500 block of Covington Place off Sudley Manor Drive, according to police.

No one else was injured.

A search warrant affidavit unsealed Thursday details a 13-month investigation into Lewis’ computer activities.

The investigation began in July 2012, and his townhouse was raided on Oct. 18, with agents seizing more than 800 computer files. Of those, agents found 50 images of child pornography and 157 pornographic videos, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. It doesn’t appear Lewis was arrested at the time, but he did admit to agents that “he used search terms like “10-year-old” and “11-year-old” when he searched for child pornography files,” the complaint stated.

Among the computer files, agents found child pornography videos of pre-teens and children as young as 4 to 6 years old, some from Russia, the search warrant affidavit stated.

On Thursday morning, after receiving information that the exchange of child pornography continued on a work computer issued to Lewis, agents again raided his home about 6 a.m.

“As federal agents approached the home, they encountered the suspect exiting the residence,” Prince William police spokesman Jonathan Perok said in a news release. “The suspect ignored commands by the agents and fled down an alleyway in between two townhomes.”

Agents confronted Lewis in an alley, where he “brandished a handgun and pointed it towards the agents,” Perok said.

One of the agents fired on Lewis, striking him in the lower body. Lewis ran behind a fence, where he was found dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Perok said.

Residents in the townhouse community said the neighborhood is normally a quiet one and the early-morning gunfire rattled everyone. But they said they weren’t surprised by Thursday’s raid since the house had been targeted before and computers seized.
Some neighbors said they thought authorities raided the wrong house in October.

Heidi Lang, who lives a few houses down from Lewis described him as a "nice guy" and said he was a "gun enthusiast" who collected firearms.

"He was a quiet guy who kept to himself," said neighbor Jeff Settle

Lewis' neighbors said they never saw children, or other guests visit his house, and until October they had no reason to suspect anything was amiss at his house.

Rosie Ellyson, who lives across the street from Lewis' house, said the incident left her feeling "flabbergasted."

"I wouldn't say shocked, but I am definitely disappointed," she said. "I guess you can never be sure who your neighbors are." ..Source.. by InsideNova