How Could You? Hall of Shame-CPS Worker William Shaffer

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Birmingham, Michigan,former CPS worker William Shaffer, 71, “is accused of purchasing nearly $7,000 worth of child pornography since 2006.

A complaint signed by a federal magistrate Monday charges Shaffer with a count each of possessing and purchasing child pornography.

Shaffer’s name came to the attention of federal Unites States Postal Inspection Service agents while they were investigating an international company that has been the subject of numerous complaints of child pornography.

According to the complaint, the unnamed company produces streaming Web content and DVDs for sale featuring naked underage boys.

The company came under scrutiny in 2010 and an investigation led agents to a distribution site in North Tonawanda, N.Y.

A search warrant revealed Shaffer’s name among the company’s clientele.

According to the federal complaint, Shaffer purchased 222 DVDs — among them titles like, “A Gang of Wet Rascals,” “Happy Boys,” “Sandy Bottoms,” and “Puppy Dog Tails” — between June of 2006 and February of 2011.

“Shaffer stated he ordered videos which contained images of nude boys however he stated the company he ordered the videos from stated the videos were not illegal,” the investigator wrote in the affidavit accompanying the charges.

The videos did not contain sex acts but did depict prepubescent boys in erotic situations.

Investigators discovered 61 DVD’s in Shaffer’s home under a kitchen table along with sexually explicit stories about molesting young boys.

“One story, for example, describes a seventh-grade boy being abducted, molested and sodomized,” the affidavit says. “It is unclear if the story was created by Shaffer, however, the story references Michigan State University and 16 Mile Road,” less than two miles from Shaffer’s residence.

During the investigation agents also discovered a City of Westland police report from 1987 that accused Shaffer of molesting a boy between 8 and 9 years old while he was working as a Child Protective Services employee.”

See the complaint in 12 page pdf.

Ex-CPS worker from Birmingham charged with spending nearly $7,000 on child porn

[M LIve 7/3/13 by Gus Burns]

“He reportedly purchased DVDs and other materials from the company on multiple occasions.

Transactions show that Shaffer made 33 transactions between 2006 and 2011, ordering 222 videos costing approximately $6,940.

A search warrant was carried out on Shaffer’s home in 2012.

Feds seized printed images of child pornography, a computer, an external hard drive, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and a City of Westland Police Report.”

Feds say former Child Protective Services employee purchased nearly $7K in child porn

[WXYZ 7/2/13]

“A criminal complaint filed Monday against Shaffer, 71, in federal court in Detroit says that in 2010 the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and a foreign law enforcement agency began investigating a movie production company that operated a website offering DVDs and streaming videos of child pornography, including nude boys engaged in food fights. The company operated outside the U.S.

A postal inspector’s affidavit says law enforcement discovered that the company had a shipping facility in North Tonawnda, N.Y. In May 2011, a search warrant led to a raid that showed materials were shipped to domestic and foreign customers.”

“Last year, a grand jury subpoena was issued to Comcast and Yahoo! for email information about Shaffer. Last November, a search warrant was executed at his Birmingham address.”

“In March, investigators contacted the boy who alleged Shaffer molested him in the 1987 report.  The person confirmed he was molested but did not want to be interviewed, the affidavit reported.

On May 21, the Michigan State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force completed a forensic exam of Shaffer’s external computer hard drive and found evidence of child porn.”

How Investigators Tracked Child Porn to an Ex-Child Protective Worker in Birmingham

[Deadline Detroit 7/2/13 by Allen Lengel]

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