September 29, 2011, - 5:00 pm

Top ICE Official Indicted for Child Porn; Natl Security Risk or Shaky Case?

By Debbie Schlussel

Many Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents e-mailed me about the indictment of Miami ICE Special Agent in Charge, Anthony Mangione, Tuesday, on charges of possessing child pornography.  As you’ll note, I wrote about this investigation and Mangione’s removal from his position, back in April of this year.  At the time I wrote about this, I noted that, if the allegations were true that he possessed child pornography, he is yet another of a litany of high-ranking Department of Homeland Security officials with Top Secret security clearances who are especially susceptible to blackmail by Islamic terrorists.  I mentioned former Tampa ICE Special Agent in Charge Frank Figueroa and former Homeland Security Deputy Press Secretary Brian J. Doyle.  But I’m a little skeptical about the case against Mr. Mangione.

icebadge.jpg

Read the indictment against Mangione.  There are few details, other than that he received a few pornographic images of children in his e-mail.  I’d like to know more.  If that’s all there is, I wonder about this, just as I wonder about others who are charged with this crime.  People send me unsolicited disgusting, pornographic images all of the time.  Sometimes they are people who hate me.  Other times, the senders are just spammers.  I try to delete the ones I’ve opened.  But would I be guilty of this same crime–with which Mr. Mangione is being charged–if I received these e-mails and didn’t delete them because I got interrupted and forgot or because I never opened the e-mails (and it turned out someone in the images was under-aged)?  It’s very difficult to control who sends you e-mail messages and what they send you.  The very brief indictment doesn’t say Mangione solicited the child porn images.  And the information provided seems kind of flimsy.

So, I gotta know more before I condemn this man.  If it’s true that he is a pervert who actively solicited pornographic images he knew depicted children, then he was a ticking time bomb as a national security risk.  But if it’s just that someone sent his AOL account 4-7 images over several months, and he didn’t do anything to receive the images, it’s unfair and not a good use of Department of Justice resources.

There are so many cases like this, and I always wonder when I read about them:  is this person a perverse whack job . . . or an innocent victim of internet spam and unsolicited materials?

And I wonder that here.  If you know more, please post what you know in the comments section.






20 Responses

How can one possibly control what is sent in an email by another party? You can’t. Why is this even a case?

DS_ROCKS! on September 29, 2011 at 5:36 pm

Unless the guy actively solicited them; how can they make any case that would stand up in a court?

But when it comes to things like this, I feel that it is often about besmirching the person with the spectre of “child porn”. It does not need to be prosecuted successfully, to accomplish the task.

pitandpen on September 29, 2011 at 5:56 pm

My feeling is and this is just a feeling, is the brass don’t like him and this is their way of pressuring him to step down. In exchange, the indictment will be quietly dropped. If I am right, its very dirty office politics being played at ICE.

NormanF on September 29, 2011 at 6:10 pm

Hey Debbie a little known fact. The flippin Chinese constantly hack government email addresses and hit government email accounts with porn sites. I have a friend that works for DHS and it has happened to her account numerous times. The Chinese are a pain in the A** in this respect. OTOH there are a number of sick SOB’s with GS positions that are sick and stupid enough to have this detestable garbage on their work machines. You’re right, if it was unopened he’s probably not guilty. If they were saved on the machine, different story. But then again there are ways to drop it on a machine without a persons knowledge. Some jackholes will instead of sending a virus that has harmful code, use a virus that plants incriminating files. It’s hard to know what is being hidden in code or files anymore.

Mark on September 30, 2011 at 12:25 am

Another problem nowadays is minor teenage children who are taking inappropriate pictures of themselves and texting or emailing them to people. They often times don’t realize they are committing a felony and subjecting their parents to possible possession charges if the kids used the home computer. If you have kids thhat use your computer click on the start menu and do a search. Type in *.jpg and that should bring up all the pictures on the computer and where they are located. I had my sister do this after she found out her stepdaughter was texting strangers lewd pics. My sister searched the main home PC and was floored at what she found. She deleted them and called her stepdaughter’s mother to tell her to search the PC at that house. The mother was shocked to the core. Now, had police tracked the texts or emails and found that on the computers the parents could have been charged. Now they monitor the kids computer usage like a hawk and she is not allowed to have a camera phone or be alone with a camera of any sort. Be parents and watch what your kids are doing their screw ups nowadays can get you a jail sentence and on the sex offender registry if your not vigilant.

Mark on September 30, 2011 at 1:07 am

Well, seeing as this started off a while ago, and the indictment was sealed, it would appear someone did their homework. Camelot is now crumbling(I can think of a few people who can’t hide behind his protection anymore!).

MIAiceman on September 30, 2011 at 1:22 am

Somebody’s after this guy, I don’t believe he would be that stupid. Is it just me, or did Hugo Chavez come down with cancer awfully fast? Now he’s got kidney failure, already? We don’t know half the games that are being played.

David Lanham on September 30, 2011 at 3:16 am

@ Mark “if it was unopened he’s probably not guilty” ….uh, how does one know what it is if one doesn’t open it? This whole conundrum is inane.

DS_ROCKS! on September 30, 2011 at 9:05 am

The whole thing seems a little shady, like someone getting railroaded. I would like to know more about the transporting charge, that seems like would clear things up.
All in all is seems like more details are needed.

petebone on September 30, 2011 at 10:26 am

One possibility (a speculation at this point): Mangione may be collecting them for “evidences” to be used against those who sent him these pornographic images via emails. If he marks them as “unread” and move them to a folder, he may be using the email addresses of the senders (which contain the email source codes and IP addresses) for possible investigation with the FBI against child-porn spammers.

Still, the DHS should have an internal division to scope out email senders sending attached files to DHS officials.

Bob on September 30, 2011 at 11:33 am

Employers can block images and emails I would think that with it being a government homeland security branch, this not being done by his employer is a travesty. Could be a set up but it has been my experience in the legal field that if the feds charge you with something they have the goods and you better kiss it goodbye.

CJ on September 30, 2011 at 11:40 am

“Could be a set up but it has been my experience in the legal field that if the feds charge you with something they have the goods and you better kiss it goodbye.”

Has your experience not included cases where someone attempted to plant evidence to get someone convicted? I am a computer forensices expert experienced in child porn possession defense and you’d be surprised at how many cases there are where someone tries to ruin someone’s life by planting evidence. The crime is so heinous that everyone jumps to conclusions. And depending on the sophistication and computer knowledge of the person doing it, they can fool many computer forensic experts and get away with it. Government computer experts are good but they’re not perfect. There is a very real possibility this guy is not a pedophile and has been charged inappropriately. I hope his attorney is able to hire an experienced computer forensic expert to help find the truth for his defense. Keep in mind he is innocent until proven guilty.

forensicstech on September 30, 2011 at 4:14 pm

    I once received a child porn spam e-mail. I was so sickened I reported it to the child protection site on the Internet. The point is that all of us can and do receive filthy e-mails over which we have no control. There is a difference between soliciting the sexual exploitation of children which is illegal and getting spam which no one can do anything about. We know that people who solicit child porn have a computer full of illegally downloaded images and we’re not talking about spam here and I wonder if this was found on the ICE official’s hard drive. And you’re correct they need more than a vague accusation to show that he’s a proven pedophile.

    NormanF on September 30, 2011 at 6:06 pm

He got the e-mails on his home AOL account, NormanF – you got a child porn e-mail – So you deleted it and reported it – Are we thinking he didn’t know what to do? The head of one of agencies assigned to investigate child porn? I will also say child porn isn’t readily available on the internet, people send disgusting stuff out- but not child porn – because that is a crime in itself.
The target of Islamic or Chinese hackers? Come on! Why? Was he the James Bond of ICE, ready to take down the Jihad Janes or the ChiComs? (No, wait Frankie the Fig was 007.)
What is the description of all the other people ever arrested for possession of child porn? Aqualung? No – Teachers, Firemen, ministers, real estate agents – “normal” folks – or seemingly normal. Just like a high functioning alcoholic – this guy was able to run the Miami office and keep his perversion a secret.
More likely he knew the ropes on deleting and hiding the photos – which is why they only listed a few. Or because the Feds can only charge on pictures they can ‘prove are underage’ not just ‘look’ young or are Photoshopped.
Innocent until proven guilty – but don’t all run to his defense and claim conspiracy.
Although why ICE is letting him move towards retirement when charged with such a crime (like the Fig)?

AYJ: Thanks for the info. This is why I asked the questions. Still I need to see more of what the evidence is against him. The indictment is very flimsy on its face. People get plenty of spam to their home e-mail accounts. Would need to see proof he solicited the images, etc. I would figure they must have some more evidence than what is in the indictment. DS

Are you Joking? on October 3, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    Not defending just giving some info. The Chinese don’t specifically target one person. They have constantly pulled broad based attacks on government domains. They are constantly pulling annoyance hacks that screw with the email servers and accounts. The “I Luv You” virus took down a lot of systems thanks to some dumb$hit opening it on his work account at the Pentagon. Anyway odds are this guy is a slease but Debbie is right more info is needed.

    Mark on October 3, 2011 at 6:23 pm

    More details from the local papers. As AVM was creating multiple screen names on his home account I would argue it would be hard for Islamic extremists to target him or know he was “thismomspanks33” or “Oldrmom111”.
    Just another perv. And (another) one that ICE is protecting and allowing to retire with full federal benefits, like; Tampa SAC Frank Figueroa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Figueroa),
    LA ASAC Frank Eugene Johnston (http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2010/130.html), SAC Robert Schoch (one of DS’ favorites), and ICE INTEL Director James Woosley.
    Instead of suspending with pay and benefits, allowing them to build retirement time, (and retire in some cases) – if indited or arrested; suspend w/o pay – if cleared – reinstate.

    Are you Joking 2 on October 7, 2011 at 3:37 am

Its one thing to unwittingly receive kiddie porn email from someone trying to set you up.

However, the crime is distribution and it appears that kiddi porn has been sent out of Mangione AOL account.

In every kiddie porn case that I did, the suspects invariably claim someone else used their computer to download and to distribuite the kiddie porn. The better cases show the suspect’s own credit cards being used to purchase the porn.

Here are the latest details that I can find on this case from a Sun Sentinel report of the unsealing of the applications for warrants.

“The two search warrants obtained by the Sun Sentinel were recently unsealed, and they shed new light on how Mangione’s email activity came to the attention of Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives who specialize in cyber crimes involving the exploitation of children.

Between 1:30 a.m. and 2:06 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2010, the AOL account registered to Mangione sent three sexually explicit images to at least one unidentified recipient, according to one warrant. Two of the images showed two boys under age 10, and the third showed a girl under age 12.”

Been There on February 28, 2012 at 1:00 pm

does this meen that we don’t have to pay his retirment?

bruce on December 17, 2012 at 6:56 pm

MEAN

bruce on December 17, 2012 at 7:00 pm

The internet is a complex place and one’s information and computer are not necessarily proof of deliberate possession or malfeasance. Other cases are more clear cut: http://www.wmdtlawyers.com/michigan-man-charged-with-making-child-pornography/

WMDT Lawyers on November 25, 2013 at 5:59 pm

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