Re: Too much Daily Mail for my liking
"(Writing this as someone personally responsible for the discovery, busting and jailing of a child porn pervert)"
Wait, so you're somehow in a position to discover CP, then confront the suspect, and then jail them? So you're an investigator, a cop AND a judge?
Or just trying too fucking hard?
My experiences with CP (or accusations thereoff) are that you need to get you own bloody lawyer as soon as you've come anywhere near it.
Client dropped laptop in for data recovery. I ran data recovery, checked some of the files to ensure they've come through OK, and found some highly disturbing images.
Because I'm not Judge Dredd, I then called my boss. Who started making excuses for the client, so I told him that I was stepping out to find myself a lawyer, he should do the same and the client should too. I then called the cops.
What follows is not a lot of fun, as anyone who actually dealt with the filth. As part of the interview I was informed that while I was guilty of both possession of and distribution of CP* (and had admitted to it) that the CPS was *probably* not going to prosecute me. But that I should expect that I might be treated as a suspect, and to expect all the usual crap that goes with it, and to not delete or dispose of anything that could contain data, leave the country etc.
I had pretty much every device in the office confiscated, even if it had not been involved with data recovery. They even took the printer. I got almost all of it back within 6 months, with a fair bit of nagging from my brief.
The cops/CPS also told me very little as regards the case, other than they didn't me to testify as I'd already given my statement. Oh, and that there had been many more dodgy images, since I'd only seen a couple and obviously stopped there. So no idea if the client got jail time, or being able to internet boast about "jailing a perv".
The other, much less pleasant, experience was in a friends acrimonious divorce case. After a number of shitty tactics having failed to work, her ex accused her brother of being a kiddy fiddler. The evidence being that the kid said so, once, with no other witnesses. The ex's parents where a QC and a judge, so the cops had to follow the rules, so the brother got arrested (at work) and had all his electronics seized.
No evidence found, kid wouldn't say anything bad about her uncle to either of the shrinks, CYFS and shrinks interviewed both parents and nothing found. Brother is released, manages to keep his job, life goes on.
Three months later, the ex repeats the allegations. Rinse, lather repeat, expect the brother doesn't keep his job and there's a lot less electronics to seize as he hasn't got his phone and computer back yet. Again, no evidence, no testimony to anyone independent.
Four months later, brother has managed to get another job. Then he gets arrested again, at work, and one of the cops makes it clear to his workmates what he's being arrested for being "a pervert kiddy fucker".
Guy gets bailed, gets a lift home from his sister and hangs himself later that night.
I want to see scum locked for the horrible things they do, but it's never as simple as people would like to portray it.
If you discover CP (or a brick of coke, bag of money, warm firearm etc) then don't assume that "I'm a good guy" is going to get you anywhere. Call the cops and get a lawyer, the sharp edge of the law not only doesn't care if you're guilty, it will actively assume you are.
* Laptop was in my possession at the time, data recovery involved taking the drive out and cloning it onto my PC, hence I'd copied the data, which can count as distribution
Biting the hand that feeds IT
