MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
Tresa Baldas , Detroit Free Press April 11, 2017
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that out of the dozens of photos of nude boys found on the camp counselor’s iPhone and iPad, 16 of them were actually taken at the camp.
A child pornography case that fueled parental outrage and fears in West Bloomfield ended today with a federal judge sentencing a camp counselor to 10 years in prison for filming young boys in a locker room and posting their nude photos on a Russian website.
But the judge handed down the punishment grudgingly.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn expressed frustration, saying he was locked into handing down the sentence because of a plea deal prosecutors worked out, and that the sentence was too long. He also set the defendant free after the hearing — his tether was ordered removed and home confinement was ended — and gave him two months to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison.
“It is clear to me in the 37 years (that) I have been a judge — this case does not represent one of the government’s finest hours,” said Cohn, who also criticized the media, calling its coverage of the case “highly inflammatory.”
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