Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Postal Service arrests 2 for child pornography Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:07:21 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Postal Service arrests 2 for child pornography \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Postal Service agents arrested two men Friday and charged them with being part of an international child pornography operation that circulated sexually explicit photographs of young children, postal officials said. Inspectors believe the investigation that led to the arrests has uncovered a distribution operation in Asia that may be disseminating photographs elsewhere in the United States. A third man was arrested in a separate Postal Service investigation last month in Washington state. Postal authorities believe the man received materials from the same distributor. "We won't stop until we get this person or this group of people arrested so that we can stop this molestation of these kids," said postal inspector Stephen Lear. "What's going on is quite severe." Mr. Lear said photos intercepted in the mail during the investigation depicted girls from 5 to 7 years old. He said he did not want to name the Asian country because the investigation is continuing. Raymond Touya, 31, of Washington, D.C., and Ramoutar Balkaran, 40, of the Bronx, New York, were indicted Friday, Mr. Lear said. Mr. Touya was charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography and receiving child pornography in the mail. Mr. Balkaran was charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography. Mr. Touya faces up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 if convicted. Mr. Balkaran, an illegal alien from Trinidad and Tobago, faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, or deportation. The two are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Washington today. Inspectors said the Oct. 27 arrest of Michael Paul Lawton, 52, of Port Townsend, Wash., about 35 miles northwest of Seattle, convinced them that they were on the trail of a wider distribution network. Mr. Lawton apparently was unknown to Mr. Touya and Mr. Balkaran, but he had received pornography from the same Asian distributor, Mr. Lear said. The investigation that led to the arrests of Mr. Touya and Mr. Balkaran began when a film developer in California alerted the Postal Service that Mr. Touya had sent the company 26 photographic negatives depicting explicit sexual activity between an adult and two young girls. Postal inspector Karen Luehrs said the investigation revealed the photographs were produced in Asia and were sent to Mr. Touya for reproduction and distribution. A search of Mr. Touya's home uncovered correspondence between him and Mr. Balkaran that included an order from Mr. Balkaran for sexual photographs of children. Mr. Balkaran was first arrested Oct. 29 after accepting the delivery of Mr. Touya's photographs from an undercover postal inspector. "There was additional child pornography at Balkaran's address, which led us to believe he intended to distribute them further," Ms. Luehrs said. Mr. Lear said inspectors forged letters by Mr. Touya to get to Mr. Balkaran, who in turn had been writing to Mr. Touya posing as a 17-year-old girl. Enclosed with Mr. Balkaran's correspondence to Mr. Touya was a school portrait photograph of a young girl that inspectors said had been stolen from files at a high school in Englewood, N.J., where Mr. Balkaran worked as a custodian. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM