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
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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.