United States v. Klein

829 F. Supp. 2d 597, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129761, 2011 WL 5389358
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedNovember 8, 2011
DocketCase Nos. 2:10-CR-333, 2:09-68(15)-VBF-CDCA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 829 F. Supp. 2d 597 (United States v. Klein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Klein, 829 F. Supp. 2d 597, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129761, 2011 WL 5389358 (S.D. Ohio 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GEORGE C. SMITH, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the Government’s request for restitution on behalf of “Amy”1, one of the known victims depicted in the child pornography images possessed by Defendant Christopher Klein (Doc. 44).2 Defendant Klein, through counsel, has filed a response in opposition to the restitution request. The Court held a hearing on this matter on November 2, 2011. This request for restitution presents an issue of first impression in this district: whether a criminal defendant who received and possessed child pornography, but did not create the images should be ordered to pay restitution under 18 U.S.C. § 2259, to a victim who was depicted in the child pornography.3 After [599]*599considering the arguments set forth in the briefs and presented at the hearing on this matter, the Court GRANTS in part the Government’s request for restitution.

I. BACKGROUND

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) in Columbus, Ohio, and in California, as well as the Internet Crimes Against Children (“ICAC”) Task Force in Columbus, Ohio, conducted an investigation into the downloading and trading of child pornography on a bulletin board known as “Lost Boy.” The Defendant, Christopher Klein, became involved with the “Lost Boy” bulletin board by May 10, 2008. Defendant Klein, through the screen name of “Mr. Bean” or “Lookit,” posted a number of messages on “Lost Boy” containing child pornography. He made approximately 160 public posts to other message board users. In addition to posting messages containing child pornography, Klein commented on child pornography posted by other members, and encouraged other members to continue to post child pornography. Further, the investigation determined Klein acted as a security person for the “Lost Boy” website and that he assisted others in protecting their involvement with child pornography by offering ways to avoid detection.

“Lost Boy” was hosted by Hostgator.com, which is a commercial web hosting company with more than one million hosted domains on its servers. Hostgator.com was paid to host “Lost Boy” through a Paypal account associated with co-defendant Woodendoll. “Lost Boy” was located on an Internet server in Texas, but also operated in every location where members of the bulletin board accessed it through the Internet. When Klein joined “Lost Boy,” he was aware the “Lost Boy” board was itself a notice and advertisement, seeking and offering to receive, exchange, buy, produce, display, distribute and reproduce visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, where the production of these images involved the use of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity.

The bulletin board “Lost Boy” was dedicated to “boy lovers,” meaning men who have a sexual interest in young boys. The main purpose of “Lost Boy” was to provide a forum for the trading of child pornography. “Lost Boy” had a comprehensive vetting process for allowing new members to join the message board. Each member had to post child pornography in order to become a member. Furthermore, in order for “Lost Boy” members to remain in good standing and not be removed from the board, members were required to post images of child pornography. Members did not use their real names. Instead, they used screen names to mask their identities.

The investigation also determined that there was a smaller group of individuals affiliated with “Lost Boy” of which Defendant Klein was involved. In this smaller group of individuals, a peer-to-peer file sharing network, known as “Waste” was utilized to further avoid detection. When this process was used, individuals could sign onto their computer program with [600]*600safety measures in place utilizing a thumb drive, which was utilized for sharing and receiving child pornography to their individual laptop computers. The individuals who utilized this group were informed of a specific time to meet on line and exchange peer-to-peer child pornography with each other. Once the session was completed, the individuals would remove the thumb drive and there would be no trace of their accessing child pornography left on their computer.

On September 30, 2010, a warrant was executed to search the residence of Christopher Klein at 1136/1138 East 17th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, based on evidence related to child pornography offenses. At the time the search warrant was executed, agents found images of child pornography on Klein’s computer. Investigators determined that Defendant’s personal computer contained thousands of images of child pornography, including both videos and photographs.

On April 19, 2011, the Defendant entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of the Indictment in Case Number 2:10-CR-333 (Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division), charging him with receiving one or more visual depictions of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) and Count 2 of the Second Superseding Indictment in Case Number 2:09-CR-68-VAP (Central District of California, Western District Los Angeles), charging him with conspiracy to advertise child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(d)(1)(A) and (e). The Defendant was sentenced on these charges on November 2, 2011, to 60 months on Count 1 in 2:10-CR-333 and 180 months on Count 2 in 2:09-CR-68-VAP, to be served concurrently. Additionally, Defendant was sentenced to a term of supervised release of life on each count to run concurrently.4 The Court notes that the restitution issue now before the Court was not contemplated at the time the Defendant entered his guilty plea to these charges.

Among the images and videos possessed by Defendant Klein were images of “Amy.” Counsel for the victim, “Amy,” has submitted a letter and other documentation to the Government requesting financial restitution for his client.5 The victim, “Amy,” is seeking reimbursement for her losses, in the amount of $3,367,854, for past and future treatment and counseling, as well as her lost and reduced income as a result of her abuse. Additionally, she has incurred expert witness fees in the amount of $17,063, and attorney’s fees estimated at $3500.

The victim, “Amy” has provided a statement describing how the abuse and exploitation she suffered as a child has hurt her. She describes that her uncle began sexually abusing her when she was only four years old. “Amy” further states:

There is a lot I don’t remember, but now I can’t forget because the disgusting images of what he did to me are still out there on the internet. For a long time I practiced putting the terrible memories away in my mind. Thinking about it is still really painful. Sometimes I just go into staring spells when I am caught thinking about what happened and not paying any attention to my surroundings.
Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my pictures and recognize me and that I will be [601]*601humiliated all over again. It hurts me to know someone is looking at them — at me — when I was just a little girl being abused for the camera.

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Bluebook (online)
829 F. Supp. 2d 597, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129761, 2011 WL 5389358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-klein-ohsd-2011.