The LA Times is reporting a story out of the University of Michigan of a Pediatric resident who was allegedly found to be in possession of child pornography. In June 2011 a resident in the Pediatrics department saw what seemed like pornographic images of children on the computer of Stephen Jensen.
AnnArbor.com reports:
He’s accused of having child pornography on a thumb drive he left in a laptop in the hospital’s Pediatric Emergency Department. Jenson was originally arrested and charged in Washtenaw County, but those charges were dropped once the federal count of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography was filed.
According to an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court, investigators recovered 97 images and four videos of suspected child porn on various electronic storage devices owned by Jenson.
This event was reported to supervisors in the University of Michigan hospital system and went through 8 people within the department without being reported to authorities. Finally, in November of the same year, police were notified and Jensen was arrested.
A university physician eventually did report the incident to police, in part because of the child sex abuse scandal involving retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky at Penn State University.
Do you believe the Penn State controversy will help institutions realize how important it is to report suspected crimes as they happen?
Is this University of Michigan case a sign of how things are hopefully going to change?
Image of Michigan Stadium, Steven Pepple / Shutterstock.com
“child porn his computer.” Let’s take a breath for a moment and recognize how EASY it is to put files of any kind onto someone else’s computer without their knowledge. I don’t know the details of the U of M case, but maybe the delay in reporting was because the insitution had to nail down where the thumb drive came from. If a thumb drive with porn on it is enough to destroy a career, I can imagine a really easy frame-up. An unlocked door, a computer left on, and an internet search, and bye-bye rival. Who’s going to say… Read more »
I COMPLETELY agree with you, wellokaythen. 100%. There is no reason to stage a take-down of this doctor in question. It really isn’t even about him, but rather about the system that allowed this to go unchecked for 6 months, and also the impact of PSU scandal in empowering people to look into something that doesn’t seem right.
We certainly do not have all the facts, and this doctor deserves due process before he is shamed or convicted in the court of public opinion.
Nah – the delay in reporting has been tracked and admitted to! The matter has already been looked into – and the primary failure has been traced to a legal counsel employed and who interviewed the witness to the contents of the Thumb Drive – decided they owned the case – and then decided there was no action to take! Pity – the law required the reporting of even suspicion. It’s one of those “For want of a nail …” situations. The Legal Counsel no longer works for the University. It is reported that their absence in unrelated to the… Read more »
It’s the foot-dragging and cover-ups that are the most scandalous. Considering that there must be a million people working in higher education, you would expect mathematically to find a few active pedophiles. (Just as there are millions of priests in the world. Statistically, you’d expect to find a few pedophiles.) I’m not shocked that any giant, national industry would employ some pedophiles. The shock is the response of the institutions. I know they have to treat everyone as innocent until proven guilty, but not filing any kind of report is just a horrible lapse of judgment. Sure, you might be… Read more »
You say “…I cannot help but wonder if this is a cultural difference.”, to which I have to answer – you are writing in jest aren’t you? I’m finding your comment Hilarious! P^0 You may want to have a look at The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – Article 34, 20 November 1989 – and wonder at why there are only three countries who have failed to ratify the convention. That is Somalia, South Sudan and The USA. I understand that a Ronald Reagan supported the convention – a Bush opposed – a Clinton was cautious… Read more »
I didn’t really expect you to understand, but I guess I hoped there would be an attempt to understand, rather than just snark. First, you will please note that I take issue first and foremost with the form of punishment. This was pretty clear in my post. You then committed a series of obvious straw man fallacies by pretending that I would never be in favor of prosecuting anyone for any non-violent crime. I never said this, but thank you for trying to put those words in my mouth. I’m not going to defend the choice of the US not… Read more »
I didn’t really expect you to understand, but I guess I hoped there would be an attempt to understand, rather than just snark. Mike I have read many posts by you across GMP. You are proud of your Libertarian views and wedded to the Free Market economy. I understand a great deal more than you give me credit for – and you confuse Highly Ironic for snark. Your response has given me a great deal more understanding of what is for some a cultural difference between the UK and USA. However, your response has not addressed that, and it would… Read more »
“Is this University of Michigan case a sign of how things are hopefully going to change?” No way – it’s just evidence of the levels of massive systemic and endemic failure that are only just coming to public attention. To me it looks like a fear response. Michigan have a big issue – they failed. Dressing it up as a positive reaction to PSU is false, disingenuous and reads as media spin. There is nothing positive in any institution failing as Michigan has. What is the reasonable level of failure? What is the reasonable level of delay? The answers are… Read more »
You mentioned that you live in the UK, and I cannot help but wonder if this is a cultural difference. The US has a long tradition of never requiring anyone to help victims of crime. A few jurisdictions have passed “Good Samaritan” statutes in the past two decades that create a “duty to aid,” but this is a new and limited phenomenon. Speaking as someone raised in the US, I would personally find it very difficult to turn in a coworker for a crime that does not have a direct victim (I.e. possession of images as opposed to directly molesting… Read more »