Maui resident confesses
to child porn offenses
A Kihei man has admitted to visiting areas frequented by children and surreptitiously taking photos of them and their genital areas to satisfy his "lust" and for his "viewing pleasure."
The admission was contained in an affidavit filed in support of a federal charge against Edward John Dugan, 42, for receiving and attempting to receive videos containing child pornography.
Dugan made his first appearance in U.S. District Court yesterday.
Dugan came to the attention of federal authorities after his name came up during an investigation involving the arrest earlier in Miami of Angel Mariscal, an Ecuadorian national, on federal charges of commercial production and distribution of child pornography using the U.S. mail.
According to an affidavit filed by Postal Inspector Gary Welsh, the investigation, conducted by postal inspectors with the Miami Division, showed that Dugan and other U.S. residents had possibly obtained child pornography and related materials from Mariscal. Inspectors recovered a document from Mariscal indicating Dugan sent him money in 1998 for videos to be shipped to Dugan's Kihei home.
Postal inspectors mailed Dugan a catalog in April from the same company Mariscal had used, the affidavit said. The catalog described a collection of child pornography videos for sale. The catalog included ages of the participants, specific descriptions of the activity in the videos, prices and an order form.
Dugan responded by mailing an order for three videotapes in the catalog and a check for $153, according to the affidavit. The videos were delivered to his Kihei home Wednesday, minutes before federal agents knocked on his door.
During the search of his home, Dugan admitted he understood the contents of the videos he ordered and that it was illegal to possess images of minors engaged in sexual activity, the affidavit said.
If convicted of the latest charge, Dugan, who has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 1998, faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison.
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Man admits guilt in child porn cases
A Kapaa man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to possessing pornographic materials depicting children having sex.Martin Finer, 59, also pleaded guilty to a New York complaint charging him with posting an advertisement on an Internet bulletin board offering to trade child pornography with others.
Finer was offering access to his computer, allowing others to view the contents of his directory, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong.
During a search of Finer's Kapaa home in May 2002, federal agents found 58,900 pictures and 3,000 movies on his computer of children having sex.
In the New York case, Finer posted an ad on the Internet in April 2002 using the screen name "happydad" that was answered by an undercover officer. Finer gave the password to access his computer directory to the officer, who found child pornography images.
He faces a maximum of five years for possessing child pornography, and between 10 and 20 years on the New York count. He will be sentenced April 5.
