WENATCHEE — The attorney for a Leavenworth man charged with multiple counts of child pornography says the material seized from his home appears to be computer-generated, and therefore protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Chelan County prosecutors have filed 18 felony charges and now are seeking to add 19 more against Michael J. Ross, 53, a registered nurse arrested at his Leavenworth apartment Feb. 8. Chelan County sheriff's detectives say they'd been investigating Ross since last May on suspicion of uploading at least four child porn images to the Internet, and possessing more such depictions.
But at Ross' arraignment Monday, defense attorney Robert Schiffner said the allegedly criminal images found in Ross' apartment and on his electronic devices do not appear in databases kept by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Those databases record known instances of child pornography and help Internet providers identify and remove the image files when they appear online.
"I have a good faith belief, after spending several hours with my client, that these images are in fact computer-generated images, and that the metadata associated with them will show that," Schiffner told Judge Travis Brandt while arguing for a reduction in his client's $2 million bail.
Schiffner cited the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, which struck down 1996 federal laws that criminalized computer-generated depictions of child sexual activity.
"You may be repulsed by that, you may be disgusted by that," Shiffner told Brandt. "I personally am."
Ross, a registered nurse in Washington since 2003, is charged with nine second-degree counts of dealing in depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and nine second-degree counts of possessing such depictions. On Monday, deputy prosecutor Julia Hartnell indicated she'll seek 18 more possession counts — seven in the first degree, 11 in the second degree — based on images allegedly found on Ross' laptop after the initial search of his apartment.
She'll also seek a charge of attempted evidence tampering, based on calls Ross allegedly made from the Chelan County jail asking a friend to remove images from his apartment that were hanging framed on his wall.
"He sought out a way to undermine the process of this justice system, and engage one of his friends ... to do that for him," Hartnell told Brandt in court.
None of those charges had yet been filed as of Tuesday afternoon. Hartnell has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to act on that matter.
Brandt agreed to a motion from Hartnell to increase Ross' bond amount, from $2 million to $2.5 million, based on the new allegations. Schiffner said he believes further investigation will exonerate Ross.
"As soon as the metadata is available, that's going to end this case," Schiffner said.
Ross' trial date was set for August.
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