Document text
P/CLOUDY Temp: 48 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend October 11, 2002 You’ve got jail: Medford man held for Internet porn By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Sending child pornography over the Internet resulted in criminal charges for a Medford man. The teenage boy who was supposed to be receiving the images turned out to be an undercover detective. Kevin Lee Bratton, 23, of the 600 block of Northwood Drive, is scheduled to hear the charges against him in Jackson County Circuit Court today at 9 a.m. A grand jury indicted him last month on seven counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse. Bratton was arrested on Sept. 12 and lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $175,000 bail. He was released the following day because the jail was overcrowded, said jail spokeswoman Jeannie Burrows. Medford police started investigating the case in May this year when a detective in Keene, N.H., sent the police department a computer disc full of pornography that he received from Bratton. Assigned to a sex crimes unit in the Keene Police Department, James McLaughlin had posed as a 15-year-old boy in an Internet chat room and corresponded with Bratton for several weeks, said Medford police Detective Mike Blair. Bratton allegedly sent McLaughlin pornographic images of children in sexual situations — including still photos and digitized video — over the Internet on seven occasions, Blair said. "It wasn’t a situation where you could possibly have an adult portraying a young person," Blair said. McLaughlin did not entrap Bratton because he did not solicit the pornography; Bratton sent it under his own motivation, Blair said. It’s a method of investigation that Medford police could use in the future, said Lt. Mike Moran. "I think people should be aware that a person they’re sending child porn to could be a police officer," Moran said. The crime could have the potential to increase as access to the Internet increases, Blair said. "If you are a child, and you’re going onto the Internet into chat rooms, sooner or later someone like this is going to approach you. It’s just a given," Blair said. Medford police served a search warrant at Bratton’s residence. Items seized include those that would be found in a personal computer setup, Blair said. While it is illegal to simply possess child porn, printing, duplicating, displaying, disseminating or transmitting it electronically is a class B felony, which can result in 10-year prison sentence and a $200,000 fine. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S