Abu Ghraib contractor gets 3-year prison sentence for child porn

[Joanne98]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Abu-Ghraib-Child-Porn.php

Abu Ghraib contractor gets 3-year prison sentence for child porn

The Associated Press
Friday, May 25, 2007
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: A U.S. contractor who worked at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad was sentenced to more than three years in prison Friday for possessing child pornography that he obtained using the prison's computer network.

Ahmed Hasan Khan, 31, of Woodbridge, had been working at Abu Ghraib for contractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. in November 2005 when a network administrator at the prison saw that Khan had been visiting suspicious sites. A search of Khan's laptop computer later found hundreds of child pornography images, including children as young as 4.

Khan apologized for his actions at Friday's sentencing hearing.

"I let my country down at a time when it needed its armed services the most," he said.

The three-year, five-month sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton was at the low end of sentencing guidelines that called for a term of 41 to 51 months. Prosecutor Jerry Smagala told the judge that a 41-month sentence would be appropriate.

It is not clear exactly what kind of work Khan was doing at Abu Ghraib. Court records indicate he held a security clearance that was revoked after the investigation. His lawyer, public defender Suzanne Little, said during Friday's sentencing that Khan "was working long hours in an intensive program that I can't say much about in court."

An L-3 spokeswoman declined comment.

Federal prosecutors nationally and in Virginia have increased their emphasis on child pornography and exploitation cases in recent years. Justice Department statistics show that child pornography exploitation cases have increased more than fourfold in the last decade.

At the Alexandria courthouse in recent months, prosecutions have included cases against an Ivy League professor, a former state president of the American Civil Liberties Union, a rabbi and a former NASA senior manager.

Federal prosecutors brought the case against Khan under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows for military contractors to be prosecuted in federal courts for crimes they commit while overseas.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Abu-Ghraib-Child-Porn.php

[glowing]

1. Sounds like he was sorry he was caught.. not that he was sorry

that he had the child-porn.

[enid602]

2. fire atty

It seems that the guy could have gotten off by saying that the horrible things he was made to do in the prison made him susceptible to the porn. He needs another attorney.