Child sex sting nabs U.S. prosecutor

[Tim]

Family value's Republican my ass... Does it get any sicker than this?

DETROIT -- An assistant U.S. attorney from Florida will return to federal court in Detroit today for a detention hearing on a charge that he flew to Detroit intending to have sex with a 5-year-old girl.
John David "Roy" Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Sunday in an Internet child sex sting run by the Macomb County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.
A deputy posed as a mother who was interested in finding someone to have sex with her children in a chat room sting that earlier netted a paramedic and a zookeeper, both from California.
According to a complaint unsealed Monday, Atchison reassured the deputy posing as the child's mother that he would not hurt the 5-year-old because he goes "slow and easy" and "I've done it plenty."
Atchison, who is in custody, is charged with using interstate communication to entice a minor, a federal charge that carries a 10-year minimum prison sentence upon conviction. He is also charged with crossing state lines for illicit sexual contact, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.
News of Atchison's arrest is "a shellshock" in Gulf Breeze, three miles from Pensacola, where Atchison is the president of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association and has coached youth soccer, baseball and other sports, said Lt. Rick Hawthorne of the Gulf Breeze police.
Buz Eddy, the Gulf Breeze city manager, said Atchison is a friend of his and is married with three children high school age or older. Eddy said he hopes the charges are the result of a misunderstanding.
"Before reading about this, I would have trusted him with my wife and kids," Eddy said.
In Macomb County, where the Internet sting originated, "nothing surprises me anymore," said Sheriff Mark Hackel.
"We have seen all walks of life that have attempted to prey on our children," Hackel said.
In under seven years, their cyber unit has arrested 130 alleged sexual predators through Internet stings, officials said.
Atchison appeared in court Monday wearing glasses, blue jeans and a white sweat shirt.
Officials at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tallahassee, where the northern district of Florida is headquartered, and in Pensacola, where Atchison works, would answer no questions about Atchison or his status, said spokeswoman Dixie Morrow.
In Detroit, U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said "no one is above the law, and this case will be treated with the same commitment to professionalism and thoroughness that we bring to every prosecution."

 

[GraceAbounds]

Oh my flipping begeebers!
People like this need to put away forever.
What the hell is wrong with people?!
:mad :mad :mad :mad :mad

 

[GraceAbounds]

Prosecutor in child sex sting tries suicide
Florida father used sheet but another inmate alerted guards
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:38 a.m. CT Sept 20, 2007


DETROIT - A federal prosecutor from Florida who authorities say flew to Michigan for a sexual encounter with a 5-year-old girl tried to hang himself in his jail cell Thursday but was stopped in time, the sheriff said.
John D.R. Atchison, 53, used a sheet in an attempted hanging around 4 a.m., said Sanilac County Sheriff Virgil Strickler.
Another inmate yelled out to jailers, who kept Atchison from hurting himself, Strickler said.
The 119-bed Sanilac County Jail is in Sandusky, about 75 miles north of Detroit. U.S. marshals sometimes use it to house federal prisoners. Marshals moved Atchison after the suicide attempt, the sheriff said. Atchison's destination was not known.
The married father of three is an assistant U.S. attorney based in Pensacola, Fla., and president of a youth sports association in Gulf Breeze.
He was arrested Sunday and was initially placed on a suicide watch, but the watch was lifted at the request of the defense, after Atchison assured a U.S. magistrate Tuesday he wouldn't harm himself.
Atchison was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after arriving for a meeting with someone authorities say Atchison thought was the mother of a 5-year-old girl with whom he allegedly arranged to have sex. The woman was actually a Macomb County sheriff's detective participating in an Internet sex sting operation.
Atchison was charged with three felonies, the most serious of which is crossing state lines with intent to have sex with someone under 12. Conviction carries a minimum 30-year prison sentence and a maximum of life.
His defense lawyer, James C. Thomas, has declined to comment on the arrest. He told the Detroit News that he regretted asking for the suicide watch to be lifted.
Atchison's boss, U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Miller, said in a statement earlier this week that his office was cooperating with the investigation. He said staff members were "deeply saddened by the arrest."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: Prosecutor in child sex sting tries suicide - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

 

[Veronica]

:yukuke: