DETROIT, Oct. 5, 2007
Fed Caught In Sex Sting Found Dead In Cell
U.S. Prosecutor Who Sought Sex With 5-Year-Old Girl Commits Suicide In Prison
-
In this photo released by the Macomb County Sheriffs Department, John David R. Atchison, 53, is shown in Mount Clemens, Mich, Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007. (CBS)
-
Interactive Protecting Children Online What to say to your child about Web porn and online predators, and how to look for signs of porn on your PC. Plus: warning signs that an adult may be communicating with your child.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John D.R. Atchison was found unresponsive, taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m., Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said.
Atchison, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., was being held in a special housing unit in the prison, about 36 miles southwest of Detroit.
The administrative detention area houses all levels of prisoners, and Atchison had a cell to himself, Ponce said.
An investigation into his death is under way, she said.
He was charged with three felonies, the most serious of which was crossing state lines with intent to have sex with someone under 12. A conviction had carried a minimum of 30 years in prison.
A statement released Friday by his lawyer, James Thomas, said Atchison had “done a lot of good in his life.”
“Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family.”
The statement also said Thomas would file a request to have the case dismissed.
Atchison had attempted to hang himself with a bedsheet last month in a Sanilac county jail, but another inmate alerted guards who stopped the suicide attempt. He later was taken by U.S. Marshals to the Milan prison.
Three days before that suicide attempt, Atchison had assured a judge he would not harm himself.
Quote
The married father of three was a respected figure who coached girls' softball and basketball in a park a few blocks from his Gulf Breeze home. His office was in Pensacola.“Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family.”
James Thomas, Atchison's lawyerBut authorities say he had been communicating with an undercover sheriff's detective from Macomb County, Mich., who was posing online as the fictitious girl's mother and arranged for him to have sex with the child.
He was arrested Sept. 16 at Detroit Metro Airport carrying presents, including a doll and earrings, and sexual materials, officials said.
As a federal prosecutor, Atchison mostly worked on tax and financial crime cases. According to court records, it appears he never prosecuted child sex abuse cases.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More From U.S.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 67 CommentsWho Is Paying For Your Vote To Keep Control Of You And To Keep This War Going? Remember The Bankers Hold The Stock In Companies That Are Getting Billions In War Contracts!
Obama''s Contributers: Bankers / Special interest!
http://tinyurl.com/2nd4f8
Hillary Clinton''s Contributers Lawyers / RealEstate:
http://tinyurl.com/2ontpq
Rudy GIULIANI Contributors: Bankers / Hedge Funds!
http://tinyurl.com/2m2c4n
Ron Pauls Money Is From the People! We have someone who is NOT Paid Off By Special Interest or Bankers Money!!!
http://tinyurl.com/2q8vr3
If you ever want this War to End Vote Ron Paul 2008, No One Else Is Going To End It!
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues
Ron Paul Will:
** Stop Iraq War Immediately
** Eliminate IRS
** Eliminate Federal Reserve
** Eliminate Government Wasteful Spending
** Restore America''s Work Force & Values
** Restore America''s Freedom!
RON PAUL RAISES $5.1 MILLION 3RD Q!
It''s Not About Democrat Or Republican. It Is About
the People And Ron Paul Is America''s Last Hope! Vote For Ron Paul To Preserve The USA For Your Children & Grand Children!
********* VOTE RON PAUL 2008! *********
Join A ReVoLuTiOn Group In Your City:
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/cities/
My condolences to his family who were deceived and are in pain.
Posted by JackSteen1 at 06:46 AM : Oct 06, 2007
Posting 2+pages of this *** doesn''t mean she will get it. A woman president is a good thing, just not her.
As a survivor of prolonged child sexual abuse, his decision to end his own life is only another blow to his victims. Now they cannot look him directly in the eyes and tell them what pain he has caused them. Empowerment over your abuser is a very critical part of moving from abuse victim to survivor. When he abused those children, they were powerless against him. Being able to face him while the tables are turned helps to replace the very necessary step of regaining personal empowerment. And that b*stard took that away from them, as well!
This b*stard had no problems DOING the abuse! He just couldn''t face he CONSEQUENCES of the abuse that HE caused!
Now his victims are left to live their entire lives with the pain of what he did to them while he didn''t even have the balls to live with his pain.
Absolute, f''ing b*strd coward! It is times like this that I do hope there is a hell.
Good.
Too bad Adolph Hilter will be judged for the Holocost and not remembered for being a really nice guy to his nephews and nieces. Uncle Adolph brought such good presents..
So when will Cheney and Bush be held accountable for their sick and disgusting CRIMES of deliberately LYING our nation into Iraq??
JAIL BUSH JAIL CHENEY for their WAR CRIMES
"If Bush raped a five year-0ld on National Television, Fox News, O''''reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh would spin it and say the five year old was dressed scantily and was "asking" for it.
The 28 percenters would bite hook , line and sinker and want the five year old put behind bars. You think I''''m kidding? Look at all that''''s happened with the WMD lies, Katrina, Abu Graib torture, secret prisons, $600 billion flushed down the toilet in Iraq, 4000 dead U.S. and 23,000 maimed U.S. troops; nearly a million dead Iraqis and 2.1 million more made homeless refugees. The recent veto on the Child health care plan while approving another $190 billion more for occupying the Iraq.
Bush is a lunatic moronic monkey worshipped by 28 percent of this country. What a freakin'''' pathetic pack of morons. "
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 67 Comments