DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705160685

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   52 lines

2 CHESAPEAKE OFFICERS SUSPECTED IN INTERNET CHILD PORN, SOURCES SAY SERGEANT, DETECTIVE HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED IN POLICE-FBI INQUIRY.

A police sergeant and a detective are suspects in a criminal investigation into child pornography on the Internet, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Both men have been placed on administrative suspension pending the outcome of the investigation, which is being conducted by the FBI and the Chesapeake Police Department.

The officers have been identified by several sources as Police Sgt. R.V. Williams and Detective Bob Lunsford. Both men are listed on a Detective Bureau schedule as being on administrative leave.

Chesapeake police said Thursday that the officers had been placed on administrative leave because of a pending criminal investigation, but they did not name the officers or disclose the nature of the investigation.

The officers were suspended in late April, said Dave Hughes, a spokesman for Chesapeake police. He said that in addition to the joint investigation by the two law enforcement agencies, the case is being reviewed by the Chesapeake commonwealth's attorney.

Sources who asked not to be named have said the criminal investigation relates to possible involvement by the officers in child pornography on the Internet. The investigating agencies are not providing details of the investigation at this time, Hughes said Thursday.

Internet pornography cases are a relatively new area of law, with legal issues still being tested in the courtroom.

The Baltimore Sun recently published a story about a Howard County, Md., police officer, George Lamont Hendricks, charged in October with possessing child pornography obtained through the Internet. He resigned from the force. The charges were dropped Jan. 17.

The Washington Post recently reported that an Alexandria sheriff's deputy was charged with possessing child pornography with intent to distribute. Gregory F. Oshel, a 13-year-member of the Alexandria Sheriff's Department, came under suspicion during a California investigation into child pornography distribution on the Internet.

In other Internet child pornography investigations reported on a telecommunications wire service in January, police in Ontario, Canada, charged several people with downloading child pornography off the Internet. The police seized 20,000 computer files containing photos and video clips. Defense lawyers and legal experts said the issues surrounding the state's right to monitor a person's personal computer would be debated as the cases came to court.

MEMO: Researcher Peggy Earle contributed to this report. KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT INTERNET CHILD

PORNOGRAPHY INDICTMENT FBI

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