Josh Powell had disturbing, sexualized cartoon images on computer

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Missing mom's husband kills self, sons: Why?

Josh Powell is surrounded by reporters as he leaves a Pierce County courtroom in Tacoma, Wash., Sept. 23, 2011.

(Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

(AP) OLYMPIA, Wash. - Documents released Friday show that investigators in Washington recovered hundreds of disturbing, sexualized cartoon images from Josh Powell's computer.

Pictures: Missing Utah mother Susan Powell

Social Services files released under state public records laws say many of the images included sexual depictions of popular cartoons, including child-focused characters such as Rugrats, Dennis the Menace and SpongeBob SquarePants. Another 15 images, which were apparently referred to in earlier reports, showed 3-D depictions of sex involving parents and their children.

A psychologist initially suggested that Powell continue his supervised visits then declared that the images were of "great concern." She suggested a new evaluation of Powell, which apparently didn't take place before he killed himself and his two sons in a house fire two weeks ago.

Powell's wife, Susan, vanished in Utah two years ago. Powell had been a person of interest in the case but maintained he had taken his sons on a camping trip the night she disappeared.

Complete coverage of the Susan Powell case on Crimesider

Photos

View the Full Gallery »

45 Comments +

Add a Comment

See all 45 Comments


by sanfran1 February 20, 2012 8:28 AM EST: Considering this man was the main "person of interest" in his wife's disappearance/murder, it's a shame that the police and others involved in the investigation couldn't work faster to connect the dots on how sick and dangerous this man was - especially with children involved.; Reply to this comment


by igutierslcc February 20, 2012 3:26 AM EST: Why was he even allowed even partial custody of his children with these sexual on the fringe-of-pedophiliac images on his computer?
Also I'm not surprised at all that the police were able to obtain a warrant to search his computer. The guy's story just didn't add up from day one. Camping in the middle of the night during a snowstorm and returning from said camping trip without his wife? He was the only suspect from the start and his stories didn't add up so it's no surprise to me that the police would want to search his entire home, car, and hell even his computer for good measure. I think they're doing their job and I think this @$$h0le scum bag did exactly what an @$$h0le scum bag coward would do. The only comfort I have is in thinking that he will always be remembered as exactly what he was despite his best efforts. Burn in hell you twisted freak.; Reply to this comment


by 1pheasant1 February 18, 2012 11:57 PM EST: "If I was gonna be Swee'Pea's mother, I should've at least let Olive be his father. Or viska versa. I ain't man enough to be no mother."; Reply to this comment


by Plankton55 February 18, 2012 8:21 PM EST: lol @ commentors on this website defending a man who had incest pictures on his computer and murdered his children. No please keep defending it, god damn weirdos.; Reply to this comment


by VA_Jill February 18, 2012 7:50 PM EST: CREEP. Rot in hell.; Reply to this comment

by scotttx February 18, 2012 4:01 PM EST

Come on people nearly every week someone send me a e-mail with porn, It is no big deal. Now what he did was wrong, I agree with that, but some people have thin skin and when you are hounded by the press the in laws and everyone else it no better then a poor kid being bulled in school who commits suicide to get away from the bulling.

Reply to this comment


by pak31 February 20, 2012 12:41 PM EST: No big deal for you because you probably don't have a pedo dad, a missing wife, are a suspect in her disappearance etc. I don't think child porn is legal to possess. He had more than thin skin, he was also a coward, a wimp, a killer and had no heart either. A man who loved his wife wouldn't shy away from anyone or anything in order to find her and get her back. This guy avoided everyone and everything. Cry me a river about bullying too, he had no backbone at all. He wouldn't have been hounded by the press and police if he had been upfront from day one.


by harleynut1969 February 18, 2012 2:57 PM EST: It's always after the fact for the Media. Why didn't authorities know this info before, before he killed those poor kids? Voyeuristic America what a sad Country we have become.; Reply to this comment

by cornfused1963 February 18, 2012 2:55 PM EST

if he was being investigated you would think this would have already come to light. the fact that it is coming out as an after fact is a disgrace to the team investigating him or nothing more than postmortem character assassination. I prefer to believe the prior but the latter could be just as equal because dirty laundry sells. there is no happy ending to this story, but demonizing josh even more than he had already done to himself will not bring back those kids.

Reply to this comment


by pak31 February 20, 2012 12:54 PM EST: You have GOT to be joking. Just because the guy is dead doesn't mean we can't be informed about the monster he truly was. I think knowing this shows us that he was much worse of a person than we thought he was. To hypnotoad, how do you not see the relevance of him having pictures( cartoon or what ever) of parents having sex with their kids??? It shows how sick of a human he was, and that his kids shouldn't have been in his custody. It may have been separate from the case of missing Susan, but not to the custody battle.


by LuciusDark February 18, 2012 2:12 PM EST: This is really disturbing. I knew the first moment I saw a frog kiss a pig on the Muppets that something was rotten in TV land. Who knows what they do after the camera's are gone.; Reply to this comment

by SERKER--2008 February 18, 2012 1:48 PM EST

Elementary, Dr. Watson! The perpetrator obviously viewed cartoons with questionable content and thus was called upon by these images to murder his kids and self. The perpetrator was obviously a victim of the influence of the internet. None of the other experiences of the last two years caused this man to do choose this on his own...thank you CBS news for clarifying that is was the internet village, not the parent, that masterminded this evil that was done. He was just a pawn...gotcha.

Or, have I gone too far....not only did he murder his kids and self, but he also did a greater horror---he looked at cartoons depicting questionable acts. What a shame it is that he isn't alive to answer this new, most terrible of allegations...this is important enough to write an article, right?

What astonishes me about this is, it seems there is a need to argue that he WAS a bad person—that killing his kids with an ax, then burning himself and the house around them was not enough to establish that he had reached a sickness and dementia where this was is perceived "only choice". That no sane man would have made this choice without the external influence of cartoon porn. Or was the cartoon porn what gave him the unique ability to circumvent all of the child protection authorities and courts involved, and thus absolve them of the responsibility of what happened under their watch. (We could have caught him and prevented this, but he had cartoon porn, and we are no match for such devious influences).

Exactly what excuse does this establish? Fat chance we'll get an article from CBSnews defining this.

Reply to this comment


by meexoraluna February 19, 2012 1:31 PM EST: Maybe you didn't know that Josh was the primary subject in his wife's 'disappearance'?

Presumably he killed his wife and was being investigated for that.

I don't think (and many others do not think) that Josh killed his children and himself over perverted cartoons. Josh killed his wife and when the investigation got too close he killed his children and himself. IMOHO


by pak31 February 20, 2012 12:58 PM EST: I seriously can't believe that you are defending this guy. He didn't just have this cartoon porn on his computer. He was also a suspect in his wife's disappearance. The cartoons were of child incest. How is that not disgusting. Especially when he had children of his own? Seriously if you had to decide if a man could have custody of his children and he obviously enjoyed viewing dad's having sex with their kids, you would be okay with that?