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James Phillip "Phil" Edwards, 61, of Kansas City, Missouri was found guilty following his nolo contendere (no contest) plea in federal court yesterday, to drugging and molesting 13 child victims, with some of the sexual abuse videotaped. The videotaping of his molestation too place over a four-year period, according to the court documents.
Edwards pleaded no contest to all 21 counts contained in an April 7, 2010, federal indictment and U.S. District Court Judge Dean Whipple entered a judgment of guilty on all counts.
In a criminal proceeding, a defendant may enter a plea of nolo contendere, in which he does not accept or deny responsibility for the charges but agrees to accept punishment. The plea differs from a guilty plea because it cannot be used against the defendant in another cause of action. For example, pleading nolo contendere to criminal charges side steps possible claims from being filed in a civil lawsuit.
The government cited evidence in court yesterday that Edwards created multiple videos of his serial molestation of 13 victims, whose ages at the time of their molestations ranged from 6 years to 13 years old. All of the sexual abuse occurred at Edwards’ residence, with all but one of the videos recorded in his basement, between July 21, 2001, and June 23, 2005, according to the FBI report.
Edwards admitted to law enforcement agents that he drugged the victims with sleeping pills, including Ambien and its generic form, which were hidden in ice cream and soft drinks that he served to the children. The victims in the videos appear drugged and are obviously unconscious, even though their bodies are being subjected to a variety of molestations.
Often they are in bed with other children, who also remained unconscious as Edwards molested one or more of them in the same bed.
In forensic interviews, a few of the victims recalled having ice cream-eating contests at Edwards’ house. However, none of the victims knew they were being drugged by Edwards.
Evidence cited by the government includes a videotaped confession that Edwards made to federal agents, as well as pictures, videos and documents that Edwards created on his computer. Those documents included “How to Molest Young Girls,” which provides specific information about dosage amounts and other instructions for drugging and molesting children. Another document is entitled “Pedo Handbook” and includes a section entitled “Drugging Children and Preteens.”
Edwards pleaded no contest to 12 counts of producing child pornography, one count of attempting to produce child pornography, and five counts of distributing a controlled substance to the victims without their knowledge in order to facilitate a crime of violence.
Originally, the law enforcement investigation only addressed child pornography that Edwards shared with others on the Internet. The government’s evidence is that Edwards was caught in two separate undercover sting operations in 2009 by two different law enforcement agencies that were investigating the use of file-sharing programs to trade child pornography. Edwards was downloading child pornography from the Internet, the government alleges, using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that allowed files on his computer to be downloaded by other users.
As a result of these undercover operations, Edwards was identified and arrested. The subsequent investigation uncovered the sexual abuse of the children who had been drugged and molested and Edwards' own production of child pornography.
In May 2009, an FBI task force officer in Oklahoma City identified the IP address of Edwards’ computer, which was making multiple files with titles alluding to child pornography available for sharing over the Internet. The officer downloaded several files of child pornography, which depicted a known child victim. This conduct is the basis for the charge of advertising child pornography.
In June 2009, a detective with the Independence (Missouri) Police Department also captured Edwards’ computer IP address, during a separate investigation, making multiple images of child pornography available to others to download. This conduct is the basis for the charge of attempted distribution of child pornography.
A federal search warrant was obtained and Edwards’ computer system was seized in October 2009. A forensic examination of an external hard drive revealed many additional images of child pornography. This is the basis for the charge of possessing child pornography.
By pleading no contest today, Edwards must forfeit to the government the computer equipment, video equipment, and storage media that were used to commit the offenses.
Under federal statutes, Edwards is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole for each of 11 (of the 12) counts of producing child pornography, as well as the count of attempting to produce child pornography and the count of advertising child pornography over the Internet, with a potential maximum sentence that would be the equivalent of spending the rest of his life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine and an order of restitution for his victims.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
In a criminal proceeding, a defendant may enter a plea of nolo contendere, in which he does not accept or deny responsibility for the charges but agrees to accept punishment. The plea differs from a guilty plea because it cannot be used against the defendant in another cause of action. For example, pleading nolo contendere to criminal charges side steps possible claims from being filed in a civil lawsuit.
The government cited evidence in court yesterday that Edwards created multiple videos of his serial molestation of 13 victims, whose ages at the time of their molestations ranged from 6 years to 13 years old. All of the sexual abuse occurred at Edwards’ residence, with all but one of the videos recorded in his basement, between July 21, 2001, and June 23, 2005, according to the FBI report.
Edwards admitted to law enforcement agents that he drugged the victims with sleeping pills, including Ambien and its generic form, which were hidden in ice cream and soft drinks that he served to the children. The victims in the videos appear drugged and are obviously unconscious, even though their bodies are being subjected to a variety of molestations.
Often they are in bed with other children, who also remained unconscious as Edwards molested one or more of them in the same bed.
In forensic interviews, a few of the victims recalled having ice cream-eating contests at Edwards’ house. However, none of the victims knew they were being drugged by Edwards.
Evidence cited by the government includes a videotaped confession that Edwards made to federal agents, as well as pictures, videos and documents that Edwards created on his computer. Those documents included “How to Molest Young Girls,” which provides specific information about dosage amounts and other instructions for drugging and molesting children. Another document is entitled “Pedo Handbook” and includes a section entitled “Drugging Children and Preteens.”
Edwards pleaded no contest to 12 counts of producing child pornography, one count of attempting to produce child pornography, and five counts of distributing a controlled substance to the victims without their knowledge in order to facilitate a crime of violence.
Originally, the law enforcement investigation only addressed child pornography that Edwards shared with others on the Internet. The government’s evidence is that Edwards was caught in two separate undercover sting operations in 2009 by two different law enforcement agencies that were investigating the use of file-sharing programs to trade child pornography. Edwards was downloading child pornography from the Internet, the government alleges, using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that allowed files on his computer to be downloaded by other users.
As a result of these undercover operations, Edwards was identified and arrested. The subsequent investigation uncovered the sexual abuse of the children who had been drugged and molested and Edwards' own production of child pornography.
In May 2009, an FBI task force officer in Oklahoma City identified the IP address of Edwards’ computer, which was making multiple files with titles alluding to child pornography available for sharing over the Internet. The officer downloaded several files of child pornography, which depicted a known child victim. This conduct is the basis for the charge of advertising child pornography.
In June 2009, a detective with the Independence (Missouri) Police Department also captured Edwards’ computer IP address, during a separate investigation, making multiple images of child pornography available to others to download. This conduct is the basis for the charge of attempted distribution of child pornography.
A federal search warrant was obtained and Edwards’ computer system was seized in October 2009. A forensic examination of an external hard drive revealed many additional images of child pornography. This is the basis for the charge of possessing child pornography.
By pleading no contest today, Edwards must forfeit to the government the computer equipment, video equipment, and storage media that were used to commit the offenses.
Under federal statutes, Edwards is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole for each of 11 (of the 12) counts of producing child pornography, as well as the count of attempting to produce child pornography and the count of advertising child pornography over the Internet, with a potential maximum sentence that would be the equivalent of spending the rest of his life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine and an order of restitution for his victims.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a columnist for Examiner.com and New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.
To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line.
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