Karr's Porn Computer Data Found

(AP)  Investigators found a version of lost computer data containing child pornography evidence against former JonBenet Ramsey suspect John Mark Karr, a prosecutor said Friday.

"A late-breaking development," Judge Cerena Wong said at the start of a hearing on whether five misdemeanor counts dating from 2001 should be dismissed against Karr.

The find of computer data, announced by Sonoma County prosecutor Joann Risse, came two days after Risse had said that Karr's computer hard drive and a copy of the contents were missing. Earlier, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department had said they lost Karr's computer.

Defense lawyer Gayle Gutekunst had told the judge Wednesday that she has no way to properly defend Karr nor would prosecutors be able to make a case against him because "the crime scene is gone."

Karr was not required to be in court and was absent from the hearing.

The 41-year-old former schoolteacher was arrested in Thailand last month after suggesting he killed JonBenet, a 6-year-old beauty queen, in her Boulder, Colo., home in 1996. He was returned to the U.S., but the Ramsey case quickly collapsed after DNA failed to connect him to the crime.

Karr had been arrested in California in 2001 on five misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography. Three hard drives, a laptop computer, diskettes and a zip drive were seized from Karr's home at the time of the arrest. He fled before the trial.

When he was returned to California from Colorado, Karr rejected a plea deal that would have allowed him to walk out of jail free if he agreed to plead guilty to two of the five charges, serve three years of probation and register as a sex offender.

He is being held on $200,000 bail because he is considered a flight risk.

Investigators testified earlier this week that they've discovered more child pornography on 100 diskettes, CDs and a removable disk drive taken from Karr in 2001. But Wong said the testimony was irrelevant because Karr has not been charged with any crime in connection with those images.
By Kim Curtis

[aznyron-2009]

Maybe I am missing some thing I am no friend of Karr but he was not convicted of child molesting his only crime is he watches child porno maybe I am wrong but the guilty party here is the producer of those child porno movies and the parents who allow this sickness to happen I am totaly against censorship we have the 1st amendment regardless of how terrible it is we must go after the real guilty ones the producers of such filth but in a society that is more concerned about *** getting married and protester burning the American flag they don't have time to address the real issues and they play politics with the immigration laws real simple fine the employers so much that it not worth hiring a illegal worker

[busta5000]

I think itsweard for a man to confess about his murder I mean no one would suspect him if he didn't confess & there are two things I think about his confession 1. he thinks he did a mistake & need to punished & forgiven for god. 2. he is proud to be on the news for the most wanted.

[jw218389]

Karr and "Family Values" Republican Mark Foley can be cellmates.

Throw the book at them both!!!

[tomviner]

I'd like to comment on what Teenalou1260 said. I agree we need stricter laws but as a police officer I believe it is unfair to lay blame on police when the courts release them after serving 10% of there time. It angers me that child abusers get sentences of 1 and 2 years for assaulting a child. If they did this to an adult the sentence would be severe. Why do attorneys consider children of less importance than adults?

[teenalou1260]

I'm furious that we can't protect our children from these predators! I don't believe they can be incarcerated, rehabilitated, then released without committing these types of crimes again. Case in point, the Groene murders and the abduction/abuse of Shasta Groene, not to mention what pain her brother endured until his death. I live in Idaho and felt blessed to be far away from big city crimes. To think that the lunatic who perpetrated this horrific act was a prior *** offender free to do as he pleased is deplorable. He'd failed to register and was moving around with no one monitoring him! I think we either need to keep them behind bars or fit them with some kind of device that is closely monitored. I have children and have been accused of being overprotective but I could'nt forgive myself if something happened to them and I could've prevented it. We have *** offenders living in our small community. I track them through the ISP website and I'm keenly aware they live here. That scares me but it's the offenders that fail to register and are allowed to infiltrate our society that petrifies me! We can't predict who might become a first time offender but we can *** sure do something to make sure there aren't any repeat offenders! We need stricter laws and ENFORCEMENT of those laws!

Teenalou

[suzanneja]

It seems to me that if he was once a suspect, then he later confesses, it's the police who must be missing the link somehow. I agree with both pearlshole and tomflint69, as well.

[tomflint69]

I agree with you pearlshole, grandmother. People like Mr. Karr are stains on our society.
There is also a need to take strict action against any websites which offer such material.

[pearlshole]

I have grandchildren and I can not let them play in the backyard by them selves,when do we stop the madness,this sick man should not be allowed on the streets again,He has lost his rights as a free man,when he admited that he was attracted to young children,Where are our childrens right? they are prisoners in there own homes,and in the schools,are we to keep them at home and only tell them of the times when they could play outside.
Thank you,
Grandmother