[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.'' -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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