State v. Mr. S (DMC No. 13089) – (20 Counts) Felony Sexual Exploitation of a Minor/Child Pornography – Not Charged – Mesa Police Department Investigated (DR No. 20XX-XXXXXX2)
Mr. S lived in Mesa when his 16-year old daughter was visiting from Wisconsin. Mr. S had previously gone through a tumultuous divorce with his ex-wife and she had been alienating his daughter against him. Although the daughter had to come out to Arizona pursuant to the custody/visitation orders, she preferred to stay in Wisconsin with her new boyfriend.
At some point during the visit, the daughter called her mother and stated that she had found 20 photos of a 10-year old girl on Mr. S’s computer. She claimed that they were provocative poses and that the girl’s pants were unzipped. The mother immediately called the police and had Mr. S investigated. The daughter flew home to Wisconsin immediately.
We became involved, and we were able to show that none of the pictures actually showed the genital region of the 10-year old girl. In addition, we were able to show Mesa PD that his daughter had the police called on him twice by the mother while in Wisconsin. In addition, the daughter had called her father 3 to 4 months ago claiming that she was worried that the police would take her and put her in foster care because of “problems” with her mother. The daughter also had one other incident of making a false allegation when she was in grade school, where she claimed she was “touched inappropriately” in order to avoid having to be at that school. She admitted to this lie.
We explained to the Police that it appeared that the daughter merely wanted to go home early to see her boyfriend and that she was creating drama. The Police asked for our client’s computer, and we indicated they would need a Search Warrant. We also informed them that it would be nearly impossible to show probable cause without a statement that there was actual genitalia involved and photos of a sexually graphic nature, none of which the daughter had initially reported. Ultimately, no charges were brought against Mr. S. Initially he was facing potentially a minimum of 200 years in prison if he were to be convicted on all charges.