Swift Boats and Kiddie Porn

[Roguish Lawyer]

E-mailed to me by Wall Street Journal

May 6, 2009 -- 4:36 p.m.

Reporting for Duty
John Kerry vouches for a child-porn criminal.
By JAMES TARANTO

Wade Sanders, who pleaded guilty in December to possession of child pornography, was sentenced Monday, and he got off relatively easy. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Judge Thomas Whelan sentenced Sanders to just 37 months in prison--barely a third of the 10-year maximum, and more than two years less than the 63 months prosecutors had asked for.

Sanders had argued that he deserved only probation, claiming that what the paper calls "his compulsion to research the world of child pornography" was "a symptom of his post-traumatic stress disorder that stemmed from his combat service"--that is, he was depraved on account of he was deployed.

The Union-Tribune describes Sanders as a "war hero," but he is best known for his service to John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee. Kerry's central campaign claim was that he deserved to be president because his so-called band of brothers, veterans who had served alongside him on Navy Swift boats in Vietnam, vouched for his heroism and his impeccable character.

Kerry did not know that one of his fiercest defenders was a future child-porn criminal. Even so, his "band of brothers" argument flopped because it turned out that the men who served alongside Kerry were far from unanimous in their admiration and support for him. A group of his detractors formed an organization called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. They noted, among other things, that Kerry had begun his political career by slandering fellow veterans as war criminals. They also claimed that he had exaggerated his own heroism and acquired some of his medals fraudulently, although these allegations were not proved.

Before his sentencing, Sanders filed a "personal statement" with the court. It is a remarkable document:

Both the US. Attorney and the Probation Officer have been unable to understand combat stress (PTSD) and how it contributed to my current circumstance. That is a huge challenge for anyone who hasn't been in sustained and intense combat. However, my concern is that if the Federal criminal justice fails to do so, the same disgraceful abandonment of those who have returned from other wars will continue and affect the thousands of afflicted men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Be not afraid, heroes of Afghanistan and Iraq. Wade Sanders has your back. Then again, maybe you should ask for your back back, since Sanders also had, as we noted in December, "computer files containing 600 images of minors, including a 21-minute video that depicted girls engaging in sex acts with an adult man."

After page after page of war stories and personal tales of woe, Sanders links his use of child pornography to the Kerry campaign. It is worth quoting at length this passage, which begins on page 9 of the statement, page 10 of the PDF:

I continued to find escape by obsessively playing video games. I had no successful relationships, only the games and my work. Then came 2004, and the presidential campaign of John Kerry.

As a supporter of Senator Kerry, I was identified by the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as a target. Like Senator Kerry, I was investigated by a retired FBI agent partly financed by T. Boone Pickens. Naturally nothing negative was discovered, but it infuriated me. I had a hard time believing that fellow combat veterans could put be [sic] so politically motivated to attack fellow Swift Boat veterans.

That experience caused a serious resurgence of the PTSD symptoms and for the next few years, I lived with increased levels of rage and personal pain. To attack a veterans [sic] service record, especially his military decorations is to go to the heart of his honor. To have this done by so-called friends was even more painful.

From 2004 through most of 2007, I recovered from that episode of PTSD, although I still had interior negative feelings which I had to deal with on a daily basis. I worked hard at getting all of them back into their little box. Although I don't recall exactly, it was about this time that I discovered the distraction and escape available through obsessive surfing of the internet. The fateful link was Limewire, a legal peer to peer file sharing program which my nephew introduced for downloading music and comedy videos. This gradually replaced my compulsive playing of video games.

Limeware [sic] was the vehicle that first exposed me to child pornography. I encountered it while accidentally downloading what I thought was a comedy video. The sight of the abused children angered me and triggered the memory of a brief I received during a government visit to the former Yugoslavia. I was briefed by the United Nations Force Commander on a number of subjects, including the exploitation of children in war zones and other devastated areas.
I am an established and fairly well known writer and commentator on contemporary social issues so I decided to research the material to write either an extended article or a book. How my PTSD played into this has been explained to me through testing and therapy. The gist of it is that my PTSD related obsessive-compulsive driven need for information and distraction from my pain and anger was triggered by the images I encountered. According to the therapists I have an overprotective nature towards children, especially young girls.

In any event, I was on another mission. Whenever I discovered a video that appeared to originate from an area of war, and many appeared to from [sic] the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia, I studied it and searched for indications of location, signs of malnutrition, physical abuse, and drug or alcohol involvement. I found all of these things and I took notes. What I saw angered, sickened, and saddened me and I saw it as extension of a relatively recent trend: using children as soldiers. Through therapy I have learned that my need to protect children also fueled my research and my mission.

Since Limeware was a legal process and I was not aware what I was doing was illegal, I began my research. It was only after I began that the statute I violated came into effect but I did not notice it. I continued my mission.
We phoned prosecutor Alessandra Serano and asked her about Sanders's statement that "it was only after I began that the statute I violated came into effect." She told us that Congress enacted the statute in 1978, although it was amended in 2006 to increase the penalties. Possession of child pornography is also a crime in California and every other state. When Sanders, self-described as "an established and fairly well known writer and commentator on contemporary social issues," claims he was unaware that what he was doing was illegal, this does not pass the laugh test.

Sanders's chronology, in which his crimes resulted from mental sickness triggered by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's criticism of Kerry, elides a crucial fact: He downloaded his first known kid-porn image in November 2003. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did not exist until May 2004.

In addition, Sanders expects us to believe that he thought that first image was actually a "comedy video," that his obsessive acquisition of child pornography reflected his "overprotective nature towards children," and that all of this was done in the interest of "research"--a bizarrely frequent (and seldom successful) defense for child pornography defendants.

James Taranto on John Kerry and Wade Sanders.According to the prosecutor's sentencing memorandum, however, during Sanders's initial 20-minute interview with investigators, he "never mentioned, or suggested in anyway [sic], that he possessed child pornography for research purposes despite being asked why he might have child pornography saved on his computer." (Note: The San Diego Union-Tribune story atop this item has a link to the sentencing memo. We've elected not to publish it here because it contains explicit and revolting descriptions of the porn in question--crucial information for the judge, but unnecessary for our journalistic purposes.)

Judge Whelan seems to have been unpersuaded by Sanders's defense--as well as by a personal testimonial from John Kerry:

I've known Wade since we were young officers in the Navy and never once--not in any fashion--have I ever witnessed or had any intimation of any proclivity towards the behavior of which he's accused. It is a complete aberration in forty three years of public service and public concern for veterans and veteran-related issues. I've seen Wade in his relationships with friends and his own significant others and am completely baffled by the circumstances which lead [sic] to this difficult day of sentencing. . . .

The Wade Sanders I know is someone who has always put love of country first. He's been an advocate for his friends, his fellow veterans, his state and his country. I know you will measure the facts of this case against Wade's lifetime of service, respect for the law, and devotion to his community and fellow veterans.

In 2009, Kerry vouched for Sanders's character despite Sanders's admission to obsessively collecting child pornography. In 2004, Sanders vouched for Kerry's character despite . . .

Reader, we'll leave it to you to decide which of the myriad facts and allegations about Kerry are sufficiently relevant and credible to include in the preceding sentence. For our part, suffice it to say that this grotesque bit of logrolling does not leave us thinking that Kerry might have been fit to command after all.

[Utah Bob]

According to the therapists I have an overprotective nature towards children, especially young girls.

Yeah. Sure.

[afchic]

That's enough to make we want to go barf.

[Sigaba]

Originally Posted by Roguish Lawyer

As a supporter of Senator Kerry, I was identified by the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as a target. Like Senator Kerry, I was investigated by a retired FBI agent partly financed by T. Boone Pickens. Naturally nothing negative was discovered, but it infuriated me. I had a hard time believing that fellow combat veterans could put be [sic] so politically motivated to attack fellow Swift Boat veterans.

He did? Did he not read Kerry's 'winter soldier' testimony? Kerry threw his whole country under the bus to start his political career. (And it is amazing how many admirers of his that I know who have refused to read that testimony.)

[Defender968]

You know I knew Kerry was a slime bag in 04, but this is low even for him. I'm glad he never got to be president, but I am saddened that he is still a Senator.

In my world we despise predators we don't write them letters of recommendation, especially those who prey on children. Watching images of children being abused is being an accomplice after the fact in my book, and IMO people who watch kiddy porn will eventually abuse a child, the same way a crack addict will eventually steal to support his habit. This man was CONVICTED, not accused when Mr. Kerry wrote him a recommendation, instead of being shown leniency he should have been locked up for the max, well done Senator.

[HOLLiS]

I think the biggest grin I could make, would not be big enough........

[Gypsy]

Does Kerry have youngish children? Hope not.

They're both POS.

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by Gypsy

Does Kerry have youngish children? Hope not.

They're both POS.

Kerry's straight???

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Gypsy

Does Kerry have youngish children? Hope not.

They're both POS.

Please.

Have you seen Teresa Heinz Kerry?

TR

[afchic]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Please.

Have you seen Teresa Heinz Kerry?

TR

Come on now, a bottle of wine, a dark room, a paper bag for her head, some hundred mile an hour tape for her mouth.....

[csquare]

Originally Posted by afchic

Come on now, a bottle of wine, a dark room, a paper bag for her head, some hundred mile an hour tape for her mouth.....

And hundreds of cases of heinz ketcup too......

Next time I get pulled over for speeding, I'm going to claim PTSD. Tell the state trooper I can't stand being in closed confined spaces and I'm hurrying as fast as I can to get out of my car as soon as possible.

[echoes]

Originally Posted by Defender968

You know I knew Kerry was a slime bag in 04, but this is low even for him. I'm glad he never got to be president, but I am saddened that he is still a Senator.

In my world we despise predators we don't write them letters of recommendation, especially those who prey on children. Watching images of children being abused is being an accomplice after the fact in my book, and IMO people who watch kiddy porn will eventually abuse a child, the same way a crack addict will eventually steal to support his habit. This man was CONVICTED, not accused when Mr. Kerry wrote him a recommendation, instead of being shown leniency he should have been locked up for the max, well done Senator.

Well Said Defender968!

"According to the therapists I have an overprotective nature towards children, especially young girls."~wade sanders

Having just spent the day with my little neices and nephew, I read this and want to go punch something! Anyone else have that feeling?

And he needs to get a fu**ing clue about where he will be spending his precious "little" time behind bars!!! Can only hope the "General Population" is waiting for him, with tie downs and a big barrel! Sick, sad, son-of-a-bitch!

Holly

[Gypsy]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Please.

Have you seen Teresa Heinz Kerry?

TR

Yes but my retinas burned immediately upon viewing so I couldn't google to check if they had kids or not since I was suffering from CRS.

[BMT (RIP)]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...lver_star.html


BMT

[Pete]

Kerry spokesman stripped of Silver Star

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...lver_star.html

"......................Wade Sanders is now in Federal prison, serving a 37-month sentence for possessing child pornography. Now the Navy Times reports that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has revoked Sanders' Silver Star. The highly unusual decision appears unrelated to Sanders' felony conviction. A Navy spokesman cited "subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself." John Kerry has to be hoping this doesn't become a trend.

As one might imagine, the media has ignored this story. Even the Navy Times declined to post its own article online.........................."