from www.dailynews.com – The son of a veteran Los Angeles Police Department officer pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges of possessing child pornography and was immediately taken into custody, while similar charges were pending against his father.
Jonathon Deegan, 27, and his father, LAPD Central Division patrol Officer John Deegan, 54, [pictured] were indicted by a federal grand jury last year on two counts of possession of child pornography.
Federal investigators first came to suspect the younger Deegan — who had no previous criminal history — of trading pornographic pictures and videos on the Internet, according to court documents.
When FBI agents served a search warrant at the Long Beach home he shared with his father, they found 600 images on his computer of children, some as young as 4 years old, involved in sex acts with adults. They also found alleged child pornography on his father’s computer.
The elder Deegan, an LAPD officer for more than 20 years, was placed on paid administrative leave in March, after FBI agents told his superiors that he was under investigation.
The Deegans turned themselves in to authorities on Oct. 5 and were released on their own recognizance. They both could face up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, plus lifetime supervised release and having to register as sex offenders.
Investigators were able to identify some of the children, none of whom are local, and although the Deegans are not suspected of ever contacting the children, authorities also are seeking $1 million in “restitution” from them.
Making the videos was likely to have been “painful” to the children, some of whose families “have taken a very active role” in seeking restitution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Mange said earlier.
At Friday’s court hearing, Deegan’s attorney, Ira M. Salzman, unsuccessfully urged U.S. District Judge S. James Otero to allow his client to remain free until sentencing because he was unemployed, didn’t have a driver’s license or bank account, has a history of depression and had been “wholeheartedly cooperative” with investigators.
Salzman said Deegan could be trusted to remain at the home he shares with his father, who faces trial on similar child porn charges next month.
“To have my client (remain) home in the environment of his father would be very helpful,” Salzman said.
He said John Deegan “is very much involved and hands-on” in his son’s case.
Salzman described his client as a high-school dropout with a history of depression that caused him to be treated by a psychiatrist for five years, most recently last week.
“All he does is stay home,” other than attend counseling, the defense attorney told Otero. “He is not a risk.”
Otero, noting Deegan’s joblessness, rejected the argument and ordered the man into federal custody until sentencing April 26.
John Deegan accompanied his son to court Friday but did not speak. He is set for trial Dec. 1.