Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (350082)	9/8/2007 10:47:13 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572153

Ex-Va. ACLU Head Sentenced For Child Porn Former Leader In U.S. Civil Liberties Group Receives Seven Years For "Abhorrent" Child Porn ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 8, 2007 A man who for 12 years served as president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday, Sept. 7, 2007 for downloading hundreds of images of child pornography. (AP / CBS) Quote Charles Rust-Tierney paid hundreds of dollars to subscribe to multiple illegal child pornography Web sites at least as far back as 2004, authorities said. (AP) A man who for 12 years served as president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union was sentenced to seven years in prison for downloading what authorities said was some of the "most abhorrent" child pornography they have ever seen. The prison term for Charles Rust-Tierney, 52, of Arlington, is one year less than the minimum sentence suggested under federal sentencing guidelines, and more than the five-year term defense attorneys wanted. Rust-Tierney said depression and "plummeting self-esteem" led him astray. "I know what I have done is wrong, morally and legally," he said Friday. "My conduct in paying the producers of this material is reprehensible. I am filled with contrition, remorse and shame." U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III gave Rust-Tierney credit for what he said was "an otherwise exemplary life" that included decades of service as a public defender in Washington, D.C., representing the mentally ill. Several dozen people wrote letters to the judge on Rust-Tierney's behalf, and more than 20 people attended Friday's hearing to support him. Rust-Tierney was president of the ACLU's Virginia chapter from 1993 to 2005 and served as a youth sports coach in Arlington. There is no evidence that he ever had improper contact with children, despite a thorough investigation by Arlington police after his arrest in February. Ellis said Friday that the pornography downloaded by Rust-Tierney "was of the most abhorrent kind," including torture and sexual assaults on children as young as 6. Rust-Tierney paid hundreds of dollars to subscribe to multiple illegal child pornography Web sites at least as far back as 2004, authorities said. When he was arrested, police found roughly 850 still images and 36 videos of child pornography. Prosecutor Edward McAndrew urged Ellis to impose an eight-year sentence, in line with federal sentencing guidelines. He suggested in court papers that many of Rust-Tierney's supporters would be less likely to stand with him had they actually seen the type of pornography that Rust-Tierney was receiving. "The children of this country are at maximum peril when their guardians exploit them," McAndrew said.