Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Doctor pleads guilty to child pornography charges


By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Following a nine-month inquiry by U.S. Postal Inspection Service offices in Boise and Portland, Sun Valley radiologist Richard "Dennis" Davis, 62, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Boise to possessing child pornography.

Davis faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for June 29.

According to the office of U.S. Attorney Tom Moss in Boise, the investigation began in April 2004, when Davis answered an advertisement on a Usenet newsgroup specializing in sexually explicit images of minors. The ad, placed by an undercover postal inspector from Denver, offered videos and DVDs of pre-teen children, federal attorneys said.

After telling the inspector he was interested in females ages 9 to 14, Davis ordered a DVD of a 13-year-old girl engaging in sex acts with her father, federal attorneys said.

As investigators watched him, Davis repeatedly responded to similar ads, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. In August, the press release states, he ordered a videotape of a 9-year-old girl, entitled "Mother and Daughter," from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Arizona. In September, the document states, Davis sent a compact disc with 49 pornographic pictures and a four-minute digital movie to a postal inspector in St. Louis in exchange for a video of a 9-year-old girl engaging in sexual acts with an adult man and woman.

In December, the press release states, Davis sent another CD containing 20 images of child pornography to a postal inspector in Los Angeles. That same month, federal attorneys said he ordered a videotape called "Lesbian Lolita" from a postal inspector in Nebraska, and a Danish child pornography magazine from still another postal inspector.

On Jan. 6, 2005, Davis went to the Sun Valley Post Office to pick up the magazine and video, the Department of Justice said. As he drove away he was stopped and arrested.

A forensic search of Davis' computer turned up numerous images of child pornography, including four sexually explicit videos and a directory entitled "PTHC," which reportedly stood for "pre-teen hardcore."

Although it is now possible to digitally create images that appear to be of children, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is sometimes able to match images with child victims who have been identified in past investigations. Both of the CDs sent by Davis were referred to NCMEC. Of the 69 images contained on them, analysts were able to identify 16 as being known child victims, the Department of Justice said.

The investigation of Davis also involved the Sun Valley and Ketchum Police Departments.




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