Crystal
02-20-2005, 07:04 PM
Father indicted in child porn investigation
By BRENDAN LYONS, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, February 19, 2005
ALBANY -- A former stay-at-home father who allegedly made pornographic movies at his house that starred teenagers has been indicted on 71 federal felony charges after rejecting an earlier plea offer from prosecutors.
Federal authorities also are seeking to seize part of the upscale Niskayuna home where 47-year-old Abraham Pearson is accused of producing the films, as well as his 2001 Lincoln Navigator and thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and software used to make the films.
"There's not a reason (for the property seizures) other than it's permitted by law," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina Jr. "According to the indictment, that house facilitated his crime. He used the home to produce the child pornography and to possess it."
Spina said Pearson, who no longer lives at the Orchard Park Drive home with his wife and three children, owns part of the home, and authorities are seeking to seize his share only, and not his wife's interest in the house.
Pearson, who faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison on the new indictment, was arrested on state charges in June 2003. The charges, including rape, sodomy and using a child for a sexual performance, were dropped in favor of a federal indictment after Pearson rejected a plea offer from Schenectady County prosecutors.
Last June, he was indicted on a one-count federal indictment. Again, Pearson rejected a plea offer, according to officials close to the case. As a result, authorities went back to a federal grand jury that handed up the 70-count indictment on Feb. 11.
Pearson was arraigned on the new charges Friday in U.S. District Court and released on conditions previously set, including $100,000 cash bond and electronically-monitored home detention. He has been living with his father in the Syracuse area, authorities said.
The new charges allege that Pearson filmed the children -- aged 15 and 17 -- on more than 60 occasions between November 2002 and June 2003.
On the day of his arrest, police seized hundreds of CDs and DVDs that included Pearson performing a sex act with a girl, and a boy and two girls performing sex acts, police said.
By BRENDAN LYONS, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, February 19, 2005
ALBANY -- A former stay-at-home father who allegedly made pornographic movies at his house that starred teenagers has been indicted on 71 federal felony charges after rejecting an earlier plea offer from prosecutors.
Federal authorities also are seeking to seize part of the upscale Niskayuna home where 47-year-old Abraham Pearson is accused of producing the films, as well as his 2001 Lincoln Navigator and thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and software used to make the films.
"There's not a reason (for the property seizures) other than it's permitted by law," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina Jr. "According to the indictment, that house facilitated his crime. He used the home to produce the child pornography and to possess it."
Spina said Pearson, who no longer lives at the Orchard Park Drive home with his wife and three children, owns part of the home, and authorities are seeking to seize his share only, and not his wife's interest in the house.
Pearson, who faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison on the new indictment, was arrested on state charges in June 2003. The charges, including rape, sodomy and using a child for a sexual performance, were dropped in favor of a federal indictment after Pearson rejected a plea offer from Schenectady County prosecutors.
Last June, he was indicted on a one-count federal indictment. Again, Pearson rejected a plea offer, according to officials close to the case. As a result, authorities went back to a federal grand jury that handed up the 70-count indictment on Feb. 11.
Pearson was arraigned on the new charges Friday in U.S. District Court and released on conditions previously set, including $100,000 cash bond and electronically-monitored home detention. He has been living with his father in the Syracuse area, authorities said.
The new charges allege that Pearson filmed the children -- aged 15 and 17 -- on more than 60 occasions between November 2002 and June 2003.
On the day of his arrest, police seized hundreds of CDs and DVDs that included Pearson performing a sex act with a girl, and a boy and two girls performing sex acts, police said.