Warning: Jail time possible for opening email message...

[Hawkeye]

ATLANTA, Ga. -- An e-mail is spreading fast that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's High Technology Unit says could put you in prison if you open it and look at what's inside.

A six-minute long child porn video is hidden inside.

The e-mail's subject line says, "VERY Disturbing! TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS/ they should kill this man, do not open if your [sic] sensitive... click video link."

"It looks like it's a sincere warning," said GBI Special Agent Jeff Brown on Wednesday. But Brown is warning people about the "warning."

What the e-mail asks you to do is open the attached video, to try to identify the man in the video, who really is wanted by the FBI.

The man is accused of sexually abusing a girl and making a video of it.

And that's the video that's attached to the e-mail.

"In the video, the girl that's being sexually abused is probably around two or three years old," said Brown.

Which, he said, means that anyone who opens the video and sees it -- possesses child pornography.

"That's a felony if they possess it and don't report it."

It's also a felony to forward that e-mail and video to others, even if you're simply asking them to help police identify the man.

"My fear is that, you know, we have a Good Samaritan gone wrong type of situation," said GBI Special Agent Kimberly Milka, "where people had the best intentions of trying to help out law enforcement, to get this guy, but unfortunately every time somebody views that video, that child is being re-victimized. That is a crime, yes."

Brown and Milka said the video may have originated in the Dominican Republic, possibly in 2005. The GBI started getting calls from Georgians who received the video via e-mail within the past month or so.

Most recently they've heard from people in Stone Mountain, Ellenwood, Cobb County and Atlanta who received it.

The Special Agents said recipients who report it immediately to the GBI are considered to be cooperating with the GBI, not breaking any laws.

But if they keep the video on their computer, or share it with anyone, Brown and Milka said it's likely going to be there permanently, even if the computer disk is wiped clean and re-formatted.

"There'll be a remnant that the file is opened on their computer," Brown said. "That's a felony."

"Just possession of one image of child pornography is a felony," Milka said, and a single video could result in multiple felony charges.

"Of course, we get all sorts of excuses from people that we've ended up arresting, like, they just wanted to see what's out there on the Internet, or they didn't know it was a crime.... We get several excuses."

The FBI put out a wanted poster of the man -- click here to see it on fbi.gov.


"These are images [on the wanted poster] that came directly from the video which has been circulating," Brown said.

There's a circular mark on the man's right forearm.

"Could be a burn, a scar."

Also, "the suspect has a ring on his left hand" which, on the wanted poster photos, is somewhat blurry, but someone may recognize the ring -- and the man wearing it.

Brown said people should look at the FBI's wanted poster on its website, instead of looking at the illegal video e-mail.

Anyone who receives the e-mail should, according to Brown and Milka, leave it unopened on the computer and call the GBI immediately. That way, agents may be able to trace where it came from, and will then take it off of the computer so there is no trace of it.

"We're telling people if they do receive this e-mail, not to open it, not to forward it, and to notify us, and we can gather the necessary information that we need from the e-mail," Brown said.

The GBI Tipline is
1-800-597- TIPS
1-800-597-8477

What are these people thinking forwarding that stuff?!?

[ragingclue]

That's disgusting. He's wrong about proof being "on your computer forever." That's what eraser programs are for.

[Bols]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

That's disgusting. He's wrong about proof being "on your computer forever." That's what eraser programs are for.

what the hell ...

and you're right, when you delete it , the links to it are released, it stays on the disk ... but even rebooting your windows quite a few times creates so many temp files that it may eventually kill off the file. Would think an FBI agent knows better than that. You can even get programs to fully clog up your diskspace with junk, so that the file is sure to be overwritten. But as he says, a remnant linking to the opening of the file might be left ... But i can't see that being used as evidence... if i rename a miley cyrus video to "childporn" and open and then delete it, that wouldnt make it proof of illegal activities :/

[taliesen]

Typical scare tactic from the FBI quote - but hope they bust whoever that som'bitch is!