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December 08, 2004
Child porn case sent to justice court
A Fallon senior citizen accused of possessing child pornography will appear in Churchill County Justice Court for a preliminary hearing after a district court judge denied Tuesday a request to keep an evaluation confidential.
James Arthur Collins, 65, asked that a psycho-sexual evaluation that is required before sentencing not be shared with the district attorney's office or the court until his sentencing hearing.
Defense attorney Paul Drakulich told Judge David Huff that his client would be more forthcoming with Dr. Jack Araza during the evaluation interview if Collins knew the report would not be immediately seen by others.
"We do (confidential evaluations) occasionally to help with (plea bargain) negotiations. It might encourage a frank disclosure by Mr. Collins to Dr. Araza," Drakulich told the judge.
"If there's some resolution to the case the information would be available to the D.A. and the court before sentencing."
District Attorney Arthur Mallory objected to keeping the report secret.
"If the court and state are going to pay for an evaluation, we're entitled to a copy," he said. "When we pay for it as part of a court action we'd like to see a copy of it."
Collins appeared in court for an arraignment on 13 counts of possession of visual pornography depicting children under the age of 16. His arrest was linked to an international child pornography operation based in Miami, Fla.
After Judge Huff denied the request to keep the psychological report confidential, Drakulich asked that the case go back to Justice Court for a preliminary hearing.
"There are some issues related to the validity of the search," the attorney said.
Collins was arrested in July at his Fallon home after a lengthy investigation by U.S. postal inspectors, the FBI and the Fallon Police Department.
His arrest was linked to a child pornography ring that resulted in more than 100 searches throughout the U.S., according to postal inspectors, and dozens of arrests.
"The investigation revealed a horrifying case of sexual abuse, rape and commercial exploitation of more than 150 child victims, unraveling an international child pornography ring of staggering proportions," a statement from the postal inspection service states.
The agency claims ringleader Angel Rafael Mariscal, 45, personally abused the children and filmed the scenes. He sold videotapes of the crimes, and also offered to use a customer's script to make specialty videos that sold for $975.
An Associated Press report in September says Mariscal was sentenced in Miami, Fla. to 100 years in prison for abusing 120 children in Ecuador and Cuba. Some of the victims were under 12 years old.
The story said Mariscal has been HIV positive since 1994, and had been in the child pornography business for 10 years.
Collins' arrest was linked to a mail order sting that targeted Mariscal's customers, police said.
U.S. Postal Service Inspector Brook Fuller said after Collins' July arrest that Collins ordered a video sampler in October 1999 from an ad placed in a sexually oriented magazine. The ads were placed by Mariscal before his 2002 arrest, Fuller added.
Once Mariscal was in custody, undercover postal inspectors sent inventory lists to a list of his customers. Collins received a list in 2002, police said.
Authorities allege Collins mailed a $265 money order and order form to Mariscal's company in May 2003 to buy two compact discs. He allegedly asked that the merchandise be sent to a rented postal box.
A photocopy of the product list included in court files alleges Collins ordered a disc described as showing "A 12-year-old cutie and her younger boyfriend," and describes sex acts the two will be shown performing.
FBI Investigative Analyst Kelly A. Andrews reported she found 124 erotic or pornographic images of children on Collins' computer, which was seized by police.
Collins appeared in court using a cane and portable oxygen tank. His gray hair reaches to his waist. He did not speak during the brief hearing Tuesday, nor did he enter a plea.
Posted by Nealus at December 8, 2004 02:01 PM
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