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July 11, 2005
Federal trial set for child porn suspect
A trial date has been set for August in the federal child pornography case against Kokomo's George Budd.
Police arrested Budd, 58, on Jan. 28 after Miami Correctional Facility officers intercepted a letter Budd sent to David L. Lewellen, 58, at the state prison, detailing his criminal activities, said Kokomo Police Lt. Donald Whitehead.
Lewellen is serving a life term for a 1975 Warren County rape, according to the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Mary Bippus of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis said Budd officially was charged in federal court recently with one felony count of sexual exploitation of minors.
A complaint charging Budd with distribution and possession of child pornography was filed Jan. 28 when Budd was arrested.
An indictment was filed June 23. A trial date has been set for 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 15 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Bippus said a first trial date often will be continued or Budd might plead guilty in the case.
Budd was denied bond on the federal charge and remains in custody in Indianapolis.
William H. Dazey Jr., of the Indiana Federal Community Defenders Office, will represent Budd in the case.
U.S. Postal Service inspectors, state police and Kokomo police searched Budd's apartment in the 1300 block of South Buckeye Street and reported finding an array of child pornography.
Officers also found letters and notes detailing Budd's plan to rape, murder and dismember a Kokomo postal worker, Whitehead said.
Since the photos of minor engaging in sexual conduct were received by Budd through U.S. mail, he was charged in federal court, according to Bippus.
Budd also faces a Howard County charge of felony stalking, accusing him of watching and following his mail carrier, who has delivered his mail for the past 21Ú2 years.
Authorities also found inside Budd's apartment maps of the carrier's route, binoculars, a tool box containing rope and miscellaneous tools, according to the criminal complaint filed in district court.
In one note, Budd described how he tried to lure the carrier inside his apartment with plans to rape and kill her in 2005, according to Kokomo police reports.
The victim reported to her supervisor in 2003 that she felt uncomfortable around Budd and that he left her numerous notes, which she gave her supervisors.
Budd will be brought back to Kokomo to face the stalking charge after the federal case is finished.
Budd was convicted of sodomy and sexual abuse in Kentucky, but he is not listed on a sex offender registry because the conviction occurred prior to the passing of the Child Molest Registry Law, referred to as "Zach's Law."
The sex offender law was passed in 1994 after the sexual assault and murder of a 10-year-old Cloverdale boy named Zachary Snider.
Under the law, people convicted of sex offenses such as child molestation, sodomy and sexual abuse are required to register with local police in the community they plan to live in after they are released from custody.
Sex offenders convicted prior to 1994 are exempt.
Posted by Nealus at July 11, 2005 04:55 PM
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