THE BEHREND BEACON Friday, December 8, 2006 "Minimum wage is a price floor "[Companies] send these pills to that doesn't allow the market to w HAT's the people of Africa, where reach its efficient level." roughly 5,500 people die daily as a result of the AIDS virus." Jordan Gilmore SIDE Scott Muska co-sports editor 4 , 441 staff writer Got Peanut Butter? •The Humor Page does. Rebecca Andrusky's article will stick to the roof of your mouth. Increase minimum wage? •Jordan Gilmore writes about how raising minimum wage could cause problems. Grammy Award nominees •Anthony Keidis (above) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers lead a list of nominees. Intramural update •Find out how your favorite intramural teams are doing this week. Athlete of the Week Buczynski was selected as the Housing and Food Serveice Athlete of the Week. page 10 Contents News.. Editorial 4 Calendar 5 Humor 6 Student Life 7-8 Sports 9-10 Contact Ls Newsroom 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: jahloos@psu.edu Our offices are located down stairs in the Reed Union Building. ittp Demerecz to plead not gui page 6 page 7 page 8 Jonathan Demerecz (right) and his attorney Joseph Kecskemethy leave the courtroom after Demerecz's hearing on NON. Demerecz is pleading not guilty in his case in which he was charged with 22 counts of possessing child pornography. Penn State Behrend student Jonathan Demerecz is pleading not guilty on 22 counts of possession of child pornography and possession of an instrument of crime, after his hearing on Nov. page 9 30, 2006 in front of District Judge Mark Krahe. The hearing took place to decide whether or not the evidence was substantial enough for an arraignment Detective Jessica Lynn, who testified for the prosecution, mentioned to the court Demerecz's two computer towers, which con tained 82.3 and 250 gigabyte hard drives. According to Lynn, who is an expert in child abuse, computer crimes and internet crimes against children, confirmed that the majority of the 82.3 hard drive was child pornography. After a complete forensic analysis, which included a professional software analysis of Demerecz's computer and cooperation from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Lynn found that 10 of the people in the movies on Demerecz's computer were positively confirmed as known children under the age of 18. Demerecz is represented by Attorney Joseph Kecskemethy, who practices family law in Butler County. After the initial bond was set at $50,000 cash, Kecskemethy and Demerecz worked with a bondsman to release Demerecz from prison until his formal arraignment on Jan. 29, 2007. Sources say that Demerecz is free to return home over break, but must be pres ent at his arraignment. Despite upwards of 600 images and 80 movies, Demerecz was only charged with 22 counts. According to Detective Lynn, 1-3 Behrend student involved in robbery of Burhenns Pharmacy Two young men, including one Behrend student, are behind bars in con nection with the robbery of a family owned Erie business. Police say Burhenns Pharmacy, located at 861 E 38th St, was robbed at about 8:10 p.m. on Nov. 14. After a tip was received, the three adults involved were charged and arrested. One adult is Behrend student Timothy Blackhurst, 19. Another adult charged is Edward Potter, 22, of Millcreek Township. A third suspect was arrested; however, the name and other information is not being released at this time. Police said the two aforementioned sus pects, wearing black ski masks, forced By Christopher LaFuria news editor By Miranda Krause copy editor A Penn State Erie Student Publication [Detective] Lynn found that 10 of the people in the movies on Demerecz's computer were positively confirmed as known chil dren under the age of 18. their way in throug Burhenns Pharmacy, an employee, Michael Burhenn, and threatened him with a weapon. According to the police, the suspects took an unknown amount of OxyContin, Percocet and four other types of pre scription drugs. The two also took a large amount of cash. Burhenn was not injured, but declined comment as part of the store policy. Police received a tip on Sunday, Nov. 19 about the robbery because of a surveil- it would have been "next to impossible" to charge Demerecz with 680 counts, considering the amount of paperwork that would be needed. Also, Lynn believes that the 22 counts arc sufficient enough to convict Demerecz during his arraignment. During the hearing, Detective Lynn displayed one of the 22 movies, the official evidence for Demerecz's arraignment. for crime that Lynn described was the compact discs on which the movies and images were downloaded, as well as the computer towers Christopher LaFuria can be reached at CSLsoos@psu.edu for questions. the back door of lance system bound and gagged Millcreek. After •,•• • .• • • •• • • ..n: • • • •• •••„.• ••• • . • •.• • )0. sumo* .• • ••• • '•• unknown amount ro • , on Nitirocet , .‘ • ~ , EMI Krahe to observe. After watching the clips and after Lynn's testimo ny, Krahe made the judgement that Demerecz would be arraigned early next year. After his arrest on Nov. 9 2006, Demerecz was arraigned by North East District Judge Gerry Alonge after his eMachine com puter was found. There were mul tiple images of minors engaged in anal and oral intercourse with adults and other minor children found on the eMachine. Judge Shad Conley issued a warrant to seize Demerecz's computer, which was then sent for the analy sis by Lynn. The instrument of being conducted in • search of Blackhurst's home, in the 4300 block of South Shore Drive, police found 4,785 pills and $3,50() in cash. Blackhurst was charged with rob bery by Lt. Dan Spizarny and was accused of criminal conspiracy to commit robbery as well as theft, receiving stolen property, unlawful restraint and simple assault, possession of a controlled sub stance, possession with the intent to deliv er, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Blackhurst's arrest led to the arrest of Vol. LIII No. XII Professional study investigates child pornography and sexual abuse By Ashley Bressler assistant news editor With the recent attention given to the issue of child pornography. many Penn State Behrend students may be concerned with the effects child pornography can have on an individual and the community he or she lives in. Some students may be confused about the type of person who would try to access child pornography, and the reality of the dangers of being in the presence of a person convicted for possession of child pornography. Is view ing illegal child pornography an addic tion, and if so can it he considered an ill ness? A major concern has been whether a person's tendency to viers child pornog raphy could also incline the same person to act on inappropriate sexual urges. Is there a legitimate connection between people who frequently view child pornography and the people who act on their sexual urges to become a threat to society as sex offenders and child moles ters? In order to fully understand the threat of the issue, Dr. Eric Cony. associate pro fessor of clinical psychology at Behrend said. - It is important to understand what a pedophile is. Pedophilic behavior is sim ply having the sexual urges dealing with children. Acting on them is also pedophilic behavior, hut you don't have to act on them to be considered a threat." In 2006. Dr. Michael Seto. a clinical psychologist with the Law and Mental Health Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an associate professor in psychiatry and criminology at the University of Toronto, conducted a study to discover if there is a relationship between sexual abuse and child pornography. According to Corty, Seto studied a group of adult males who had a history of sex offenses to determine what they found attractive and arousing. Corty said there were three groups within the study: men who had been arrested for possessing child pornogra phy, men who had committed sex offens es against children and men who had committed sex offenses against adults. The men were shown slides of various images like landscapes and other non sexual images, along with naked pictures of both adults and children. The men had a strain gauge, (a round, mercury-filled ring) placed around their penises, which was then attached to a machine. As the men watched the different images, the strain gauge was able to determine which of the images they found most arousing. Continued on page 2 Potter of the 5400 block of Appleman Road, Millcreek. After a search of Potter's house, police also found nar cotics, cash and a weapon. The weapon was a BB gun believed to be used in the robbery. Both have been charged with 10 criminal charges, including theft, robbery and simple assault. According to Spizarny, Potter and Blackhurst both admitted their involvement in the crime. Among the drugs stolen was OxyContin, which is a highly addictive prescription pain killer used to provide relief to cancer patients. The drug usually sells on the street for $2O-$lOO a pill, according to the investigators on the case. According to Spizarny. Blackhurst and Potter stole the drugs to both sell and use.
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