RE: [ISN] Computer hackers led police to child pornography suspect

From: mea culpa (jerichoat_private)
Date: Wed Sep 23 1998 - 08:22:23 PDT

  • Next message: mea culpa: "RE: [ISN] Computer hackers led police to child pornography suspect"

    [Moderator: While not security related, this is directly related to 
     another article and discussion.]
    
    
    Forwarded From: "Gilbert, Raymond (HT-EX)" <RGilbertat_private>
    
    Latest info:
    
    http://www.mcall.com:80/html/news/regional/4119.htm
    
    
    Net porn suspect kills self in Lehigh
    
    Bethlehem police charged William H. Prugh Friday with child porn.
    September 23, 1998
    By KIRK BELDON JACKSON And BILL TATTERSALL
    Of The Morning Call
    
    William H. Prugh, charged Friday with placing child pornography on the
    Internet, killed himself Tuesday, authorities said. 
    
    Prugh, 44, of 2175 Pinehurst Road, Bethlehem, was pronounced dead of
    carbon monoxide poisoning at his home shortly after 4:50 p.m., Lehigh
    County Deputy Coroner Rick Pender said. Prugh's wife found him in his car
    inside his closed garage, Bethlehem police said. 
    
    He was charged with 15 counts of possessing and disseminating child
    pornography and was released on $20,000 bail. Police reportedly had seized
    computer equipment and ''numerous depictions involving child pornography''
    from his home. 
    
    A heating and air conditioning technician for the Southern Lehigh School
    District, Prugh was suspended Monday after the district found out about
    the charges, Superintendent Paula Fantaski said. 
    
    State police arrested him after a tip from a computer hackers' group known
    as Ethical Hackers Against Pedophilia. Member Dave Holland said the
    group's purpose is to assist law enforcement agencies in cracking down on
    child exploitation done through computers. 
    
    Police gave this account of the discovery of Prugh's suicide: 
    
    Prugh's wife, Antoinette, came home about 3 p.m.  to find that the garage
    door would not open when she pressed the remote control. She then tried to
    enter the garage through the house and found that the door would not open. 
    
    She later discovered it was screwed shut from the garage side with six
    drywall screws. 
    
    Antoinette Prugh then looked through a window, saw her husband sitting in
    the car and broke a window to get in. The engine was not running, but the
    key was turned to the ''on'' position and the car was out of gas. The
    radio was also on. 
    
    Police later discovered that Prugh had apparently not only screwed the
    door shut, but also had disabled the electric garage door opener and cut
    the telephone lines in the basement. 
    
    They said they suspected that Prugh had been dead for a couple hours. 
    
    Holland said that, despite the outcome, his group has no qualms about its
    role in the apprehension. 
    
    ''You never know; it's something that's happened before, not related to
    us, but these guys have committed suicide in several cases,'' he said. 
    
    ''We did our job by our mission statement and after we turn it over to law
    enforcement, we have very little control after that.''
    
    Prugh worked for Southern Lehigh since last year, said Fantaski. 
    
    Asked if there were any problems during his employment, she said, ''Not
    that we're aware of.''
    
    A routine background check when Prugh was hired at Southern Lehigh showed
    no criminal record, Fantaski said. 
    
    ''I have sympathy for the Prugh family,'' she said. ''In the position that
    he was in, he would have had responsibility to go to all of our schools.
    Given the nature of the charges, I think it was an appropriate action.''
    
    
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