Facebook page leads to child porn charges

MAYSVILLE, Mo. - Law enforcement officers checked on an Osborn, Mo., man who failed to register as a convicted sex offender and discovered the man was collecting child pornography.

The state has charged Brian L. Fowler, 42, with the felonies of failing to register as a sex offender and possession of child pornography.

The investigation began Aug. 13 when deputies arrested Mr. Fowler for his failure to register, said DeKalb County Sheriff Wes Raines. Subsequent information suggested that Mr. Fowler had a Facebook page that he'd also failed to register, Mr. Raines said.

The sheriff's office obtained a search warrant that allowed then to seize the computer and several disks.

Those disks revealed more than 100 child pornography pictures involving sexual abuse of infants and children up to the age of 12, Mr. Raines said.

Mr. Fowler had been released Friday on the first charge after he posted a $15,000 bond. Later that day, he was arrested again and charged with the possession of child pornography.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Jason Kanoy set Mr. Fowler's new bond at $100,000.

Mr. Fowler remains in the custody of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department in lieu of posting the bond money.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Bart Spear withdrew from the case because of a conflict of interest. Mr. Spear's filed the charge of failure to register. No date for an arraignment will be set until a new judge is appointed to hear the case.

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Azure says...

since there is no way to 'cure' true sex offenders,
All we have left is to eliminate them before they hurt others again.

I'd shoot them my self if they were anywhere near my children.

October 14, 2009 at 12:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ACBOUND says...

I would have to agree!!!!!!

October 14, 2009 at 2:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

helter says...

I see nothing in this article about his Facebook page containing porn or leading the police to him just that he had one. Bad job on reporting. Heading should Failure to register leads to child porn charges.

October 14, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tydej says...

I think it's good that law enforcement is cracking down on these perverts and are using my tax money to bring these men and women to some from of justice. While I would not children in my family around them I find it horrible that people would advocate killing such a person. I don't think this is the right way to handle such an individual. Two wrongs do make a right and taking such action would do harm to the cause itself. We must take legal steps to taking individuals who are guilty of the most horrible crimes when it come to sex offenders and use stiffer punishments which takes changing current laws. I also feel that some of the individuals who are on the sex offender list do not belong on there. Some of the crimes that get on on there are things many of us are guilty of. There needs to be some retooling of what should be a sex crime and what is not a crime under current standards. It's also my opinion that each state should be required to list on the web-based reporting systems open to the public to list what crime was committed so people know if the person is a true danger to their children in the area. Some states have enacted such laws yet many like Missouri just follow the basic minimum standards set forth by the federal government.

October 14, 2009 at 7:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )