How Could You? Hall of Shame-Stephen DeProspero and Lawsuit UPDATED

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 Utica, New York, group home worker Stephen DeProspero’s sentence was upheld in the 2006-2007 sexual abuse of an autistic child.

“The Court of Appeals unanimously concluded the 2009 search warrant for Stephen DeProspero’s computer and cameras remained in effect a year after it was issued and months after he was first convicted of possessing child pornography. The video, which state police didn’t find during an initial examination that turned up one child porn image, showed him molesting a developmentally disabled boy at the state-run residence in Utica.

“We note that neither the Fourth Amendment nor its New York state analogue specifically limit the length of time property may be held following a lawful seizure,” Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote. However, he rejected the notion that private property can be “effectively confiscated” by the state under a search warrant “without a further showing of justification.”

In early 2009, DeProspero was identified in a probe of Internet child porn file-sharing, and police got the warrant to search his home and computers. In September 2009, he pleaded guilty to the child porn possession charge and was sentenced to six months in jail, and his lawyer asked for his property back. In early 2010, police found hundreds of other child porn files, including the deleted video clip, and DeProspero was prosecuted twice more.

DeProspero, 39, is now serving an 18-year state sentence in Attica state prison for predatory sexual assault against a child. He also was convicted in federal court of producing child pornography and faces a 40-year prison term in that case.

The assault probably would have gone unnoticed if DeProspero hadn’t asked for his equipment back, Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said. The prosecutor said it had to be checked again to ensure authorities weren’t returning any child pornography, prompting a more thorough examination.

“Had he never asked for it back, that computer would be sitting in a closet someplace and he would be on probation right now,” he said.

Defense attorney Frank Policelli said Tuesday’s decision leaves big questions about how long a search warrant remains valid, a fundamental privacy rights question, and he’s considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Does this mean they can use a search warrant 20 years after it was issued to go search a home? It doesn’t say they can’t,” he said.

When asked by the judges during oral arguments when private property should be returned, McNamara said his answer was “a reasonable standard,” what the law has always been. He added that the case points toward important unsettled legal issues with new technology like complex cellphones and cloud storage.

Lippman wrote that DeProspero lost “any legitimate expectation of privacy” regarding the computer and cameras after the child porn was found. The warrant didn’t specify how long police would keep the equipment, nor was it forfeited as part of his initial child porn conviction.”

NY group home worker’s sex abuse case upheld

[The Wall Street Journal 3/26/13 by Associated Press]

Older Articles

“Stephen DeProspero, 37 of Rome, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in state prison, Monday, for taping himself having oral sex with a 10 year-old autistic child.
During the sentence Monday, Oneida County Court Judge Michael Dwyer said DeProspero’s act “bothered” him.
“I can’t tell you how many murder cases I have been through, but none have bothered me more than this.” Dwyer said.
DeProspero will also be sentenced in federal court in June, on the charge of making and possessing child pornography.
DeProspero’s attorney says he plans on appealing the guilty plea because he has a problem with how police received the evidence to convict his client. Police confiscated DeProspero’s computer in an unrelated case where they then found the video of him and the child.
It wasn’t until DeProspero was released that police found the video of him and the autistic child on the same computer, a computer Policelli says no one had warrant to search a second time.
“If they had a reason to research the property, they could have applied to the judge for another warrant, they did not do that,” Policelli said.

“If they felt there was some kind of reason to retain the property, they could have started forfeiture proceedings. They did none of this.
Policelli says he argued the constitution was violated by an illegal search and seizure in 2009, and that will be the basis of his appeals on the state and federal levels.
Policelli says the initial argument fell on deaf ears because law enforcement let emotion get in the way of the law.
“It doesn’t matter what the crime is, you can not be so capricious and say certain rules don’t apply to certain crimes because of the emotional reaction,” Policelli said. “The constitution applies to everybody, in all crimes.”
Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Dawn Lupi says that despite the appeals on the state and federal level, she believes Stephen DeProspero will not get out of prison.
“I feel confident the law will come out on our side on this,” Lupi said. “I certainly hope it does and we’re certainly going to do everything we can as far as pursuing our response to the appeal as vigorously as we can.” ”

Man sentenced for taping sexual act with autistic child

[WKTV.com 2/14/11 by Pat Bailey]

“Never before in his life did Stephen DeProspero ever think of sexually abusing a young child, the Rome man said Friday in federal court.

Yet that’s where DeProspero found himself in 2006 and 2007, when he decided to prey upon a young severely autistic boy that he was supposed to be caring for while working for the state’s Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services, he admitted.

DeProspero is already serving 18 years to life in prison after previously pleading guilty in Oneida County Court to molesting the 10-year-old boy at the state-run facility in New Hartford.

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge David N. Hurd sentenced DeProspero to even more time for actually filming the child pornography – 40 years in federal prison, which will run at the same time as DeProspero’s state sentence. DeProspero will also face a lifetime of supervision as a registered sex offender if he is ever released.

Moments before he was sentenced, DeProspero expressed his regret for abusing the child while working a job that he otherwise took great pride in.

“I can make no excuse for my conduct,” DeProspero said, standing alongside his attorney, Frank Policelli. “I let this child down in the worst way imaginable.”

Still, DeProspero said he believes he can one day be rehabilitated from his deviant behavior – which, Judge Hurd said, began 10 years ago with an addiction to viewing child pornography.

The 40-year sentence imposed by Hurd was less than the 60-year sentence that federal prosecutors had hoped for a man who targeted “the most vulnerable of these vulnerable victims.” The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher, had even emphasized to Hurd that “60 years seems too light,” considering the circumstances surrounding the boy’s abuse.

Although Hurd received several letters from DeProspero’s family members that spoke highly of him, the judge noted that these letters failed to mention one important detail: “There is not one word of concern for the victim. Not one word. Each family member was concerned for only Mr. DeProspero.”

But in court, Dr. Lisa Lucas-Myers spoke on behalf of the victimized boy, whose mother had once expressed her own concern that the mentally-disabled boy’s inability to speak out would make him an easy target for abuse.

“One can only imagine the intense thoughts that will forever be locked in his head,” said Lucas-Myers, a psychologist at the state-run facility.

Both convictions are being appealed based on defense arguments that state police wrongfully discovered the recordings of abuse by searching DeProspero’s camera and computer without a current warrant.”

Rome man gets 40 years in prison for filming sex abuse

[Utica Observer-Dispatch 7/15/11 by Rocco LaDuca]

REFORM Puzzle Piece