Police: Man used library to upload child porn
UI police have arrested a homeless man they say used computers in the Main Library to post and access child pornography.
Martin Jackson, 41, address unknown, was charged April 24 with four counts of possession of materials exploiting minors.
According to UI police, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported suspected child pornography was posted on the photo-sharing website flickr.com.
In June 2008, workers at ning.com, a social-networking site, told police they suspected someone with the user name “Martin” posted child pornography on the site.
Investigations showed Jackson was logged onto a computer in the Main Library when both sets of images were posted, police said. Backtracking the e-mail address ning.com workers had on file for “Martin” led to Jackson, according to the police.
The police notified the library, and its employees contacted police when they saw Jackson had returned to the building, said Charles Green, the assistant vice president for the UI police.
Officers found Jackson at the Main Library on Feb. 27. After executing a search warrant, they reported finding hundreds of pornographic images on his flash drive.
The director of the UI Hospitals and Clinics Child Protection Program Child Assessment Clinic examined the females in the images and stated some were prepubescent, authorities said. Experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified and located some of the victims.
Jackson is being held at the Johnson County Jail on an $8,000 bond.
Green said he could not release any additional information because it is a pending case.
Though the number of similar incidents wasn’t immediately available Tuesday, Green said, UI police have investigated cases involving child pornography in the past.
“But I would still classify it as rare,”he said.
Jackson is not a UI student or employee, but he accessed UI computers using a guest pass, which requires only an ID card to obtain, Green said.
The 41-year-old has a criminal record dating back nearly 20 years, according to court documents. Jackson was found guilty of lascivious acts with a child in 1989 in Crawford County. In Johnson County, he was charged in 1995 with assault with intent for sex abuse, though was guilty only of simple assault, and in 1997, he was found guilty of first-degree harassment.
UI Libraries and Information Technology Services officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Possession of materials exploiting minors is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $6,250.
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