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Politics

Feds knew man had child porn, but couldn't make a case, - 4 years later he molested a toddler

Posted: Dec 14th, 2018 - 6:53 am

Four years before a Portsmouth man molested a toddler on camera to gain special access to child pornography websites, the FBI was hot on his trail, according to court documents.

In 2012, agents had downloaded “numerous” photos from Dashawn Webster's IP address, a federal prosecutor explained. But then the 17-year-old moved to New Jersey before a Norfolk-based agent could interview him, “and there was no resolution to the matter,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Yusi wrote.

Webster, now 23, was sentenced Thursday to more than 24 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.

It is unclear exactly what happened with the original FBI investigation, which was launched before Webster’s interests evolved from viewing child pornography to creating it.

In a prepared statement, an FBI spokeswoman said its agents in Norfolk and Newark, N.J., pursued the matter "as far as the law allows."

"The limited evidence available at the time prevented investigators from moving the case forward to a prosecution," said Christina Pullen, who is based out of the FBI's Norfolk Field Office. She didn't elaborate.

In court this morning, the Homeland Security Investigations agent who arrested Webster earlier this year offered his understanding of what happened in 2012.

From the stand, Special Agent Paul Wolpert said he was told the FBI downloaded only one image from a computer linked to Webster’s home and didn’t have enough evidence to obtain a search warrant. He said agents still visited the house, spoke with Webster’s mother and got permission to search the computers that were still there. No child porn was found.

He said he thought FBI agents in Norfolk contacted the Newark field office about Webster.

"I believe they did what they could to determine if there was any activity where he was located,” Wolpert said.

According to court documents, Webster had a deep-seated interest in child pornography. By the time he was arrested May 18, he'd amassed more than 8,000 videos and more than 110,000 images.

"This is one of the most heinous cases of child exploitation we’ve seen locally — both in the size of the pornography collection and the offenses committed to produce it," said Michael Lamonea, assistant special agent in charge of HSI's Norfolk field office.

Citing a forensic analysis of his computers and other electronics, Yusi said Webster appeared to have been collecting child pornography since at least 2012. Over the years, she said, his activity progressed from trading images and videos using peer-to-peer software, to participating in online forums and to physically abusing a child.

Webster’s collection included over 600 images and videos of him graphically abusing the 2-year-old boy, Yusi said. Many of the images were watermarked with one of Webster’s screen names.

“He then shared the images with others in order to ‘impress’ them and get a membership into certain online forums,” Yusi said in court documents.

Wolpert testified Webster wanted “VIP status.”

The charges against Webster do not stem from the 2012 FBI investigation. Court documents credit Interpol and the Homeland Security Investigations office in Boston with identifying him as a suspect while investigating unspecified “dark web” child porn websites.

Wolpert said he didn’t know about the FBI investigation until after Webster was in custody.

HSI agents recovered a thumb drive from a suspect in another case that included 17 watermarked images of a prepubescent boy that appeared to be “homemade,” according to court documents. Agents determined those images were produced by a man who used multiple screen names on child pornography websites.

Investigators eventually linked one username to Webster’s old address on Rex Avenue in Portsmouth and to Webster himself, documents said.

Following his arrest, Webster confessed to making the child pornography, documents said.

In court Thursday, Yusi said Webster deserved a sentence of 30 years in prison — the maximum. She noted his extended interest in 2012, and how Webster appeared to get more involved after the FBI spoke with his mother regarding their child porn investigation. Given the opportunity, Yusi said, “the likelihood that Webster will return to this predatory behavior in the future is strong.”

Assistant Federal Public Defender Wilfredo Bonilla Jr. argued 15 years was more appropriate due to his client's physical and mental health issues. He said Webster was repeatedly molested as a child and ridiculed for being overweight and having a learning disability. He said his client now weighs over 400 pounds and has the “mind of a child.”

In an apparent effort to drive home the point, Bonilla attached Webster's mugshot to a sentencing memo he filed with the court last month.

“With the multitude of issues Dashawn has, it is not surprising that he isolated himself in his room and spent the majority of his time on the internet,” Bonilla wrote in court documents. “The internet is how he interacted with the outside world.”

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson said Webster was guilty of a “truly objectionable offense” but didn’t deserve the maximum sentence in light of all he’d gone through growing up.



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