As you know he was arrested today but this is a story from his college
in 1999 from the Michigan Daily
Less than two weeks after Department of Public Safety detectives had arrested him on charges of distributing child pornography, LSA first-year student Aaron Bruns voluntarily dropped out of the University while his case was pending, his lawyer told District Court Judge John Collins on Wednesday.
As a condition of his freedom - Bruns is out on a personal recognizance bond - Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor John Reiser asked that Bruns not use a computer for anything other than school work, said County Recorder Jackie Wallen.
Bruns' attorney Douglas Mullkoff indicated that he would not be using a computer since he had left the University.
Bruns' preliminary hearing was adjourned until May 12 at the request of his lawyer. Bruns was not present in court yesterday, having returned home to Lima, Ohio.
DPS detectives seized Bruns' computer on March 15 from his South Quad room. Thousands of pornographic images were stored on his computer, many of them of children in explicit sexual situations, said DPS Lt. Wesley Skowron.
Bruns was arrested on March 18 by DPS Sgt. Kevin McNulty and released after arraignment.
DPS was informed by the Florida Bureau of Investigations early last month that an individual using University internet access was trading child pornography via an internet chat relay, Skowron said.
The Florida authorities regularly monitor internet activities to catch traffic in child pornography.
Skowron said Information Technology Division officials tracked down Bruns and that he was still logged on to the relay chat at the time of his arrest.
Skowron said Bruns has been trading and downloading pornography since at least late January, receiving as many as a few hundred inquiries a day from others eager to trade child pornography.
Skowron said DPS does not view the trading of child pornography as a serious problem on campus.
"I think this is an isolated incident as far as child pornography," Skowron said. "We have no indications that there is a network at the University."
Julie Peterson, University spokesperson, said the University has not been informed of Bruns' decision to drop out.
"As far as I know, he's still enrolled," Peterson said.
If convicted of distributing child pornography, Bruns could face up to seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
Mullkoff declined to comment yesterday while the case is still pending.
04-02-99
http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1999/apr/04-02-99/news/news6.html
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