JESUSLAND—If you've paid any attention at all to the attempts by religious conservatives to deep-six democracy in favor of "government by God" (and all the creepy folks who claim to speak for God), then you've probably heard of the Alliance Defense Fund, recently renamed "Alliance Defending Freedom"—probably so they could keep the same acronym, "ADF." It was started by, among a few others, D. James Kennedy, head of the ultra-conservative Coral Ridge Ministries, and James Dobson, founder of the equally wingnut Focus on the Family, and it's run by Alan Sears, former chief counsel to the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography aka the Meese Commission.
According to ADF's website, their mission in life is to keep "the door open for the spread of the Gospel" by championing "religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and the family." For those purposes, they don't actually employ a lot of attorneys, but they've got a fair number they refer to as "allied attorneys," one of whom was Manchester, NH advocate Lisa Biron, who was recently feted by ADF as a "new Honor Corps member," meaning that she'd completed 450 hours of "pro bono service" to the Cause.
Part of that service might have had something to do with her having on the Board of Directors at Mount Zion Christian Schools in Manchester, and having been involved in a tax fight defending a Pentecostal Church on Mountain Road in Concord, NH, against that city.
Trouble is, if you search for Biron's name on the ADF website, all you'll get is essentially a "404 Not Found" error page stating, "THIS IS SOMEWHAT EMBARRASSING, ISN'T IT? It seems we can't find what you're looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help."
But no, searching and the links below don't help; this Honor Corps member has been deleted from the site.
"Why?" you might ask—and well you should. Check out the headline from the Concord (NH) Monitor from last Saturday: "Manchester lawyer facing federal child pornography charges arrested by FBI at courthouse."
That "Manchester lawyer"? You guessed it: Lisa Biron.
What we'll call the "Lisa Biron Saga" started during the first week in October, when Manchester police received a report that Biron's home computer was home to certain "pornographic materials" involving underage teens. They got a search warrant on October 9, and sure enough, there was the porn, so they arrested her for violating state law against child porn.
On November 16, Biron was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on the child porn charges in Hillsborough County Superior Court—except that the FBI showed up in the courtroom and promptly arrested Biron on charges of "transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity," possession of child pornography" and five counts of "sexual exploitation of children."
Judges are usually disposed to grant bail to attorneys who appear before them on anything but the most heinous offenses, but Judge Landya McCafferty of the U.S. District Court in Concord decided that wasn't such a good idea in this case.
Why? Well, it seems that the judge in Manchester had ordered Biron to use her computer only for work, and not to have any contact with the teenage girl who'd appeared in the five videos and two photos found on Biron's computer. But while Biron obeyed the second directive, the FBi brought in evidence that Biron had posted an advertisement on Craigslist, that she had 200 rounds of ammunition in her home, that two witnesses had seen her in possession of ecstasy, pot and cocaine; that she sent a threatening text message to the person who stooled on her, telling him that he would have to watch his back "FOR EVER"; that she texted a friend saying that she might seek refuge in Cuba because she had "nothing left"; that she asked friends to lie to law enforcement about her case; and the piece de resistance: that the FBI found that "other juveniles have been subjected to Biron's sexual activity and drug use."
The best her attorney could offer in response was that she'd shown up to every hearing so far.
But wait; it gets better (or worse, depending on your perspective).
Not only did Biron possess the kid porn videos and photos, but according to Canada's National Post, Biron is alleged to have actually brought a minor girl from New Hampshire to Ontario, Canada and coerced the kid to have sex with an underage boy, and had someone shoot pics and take video of the whole thing!
"It was a surprise. There was no indication of anything. I was completely shocked, as I am sure a lot of people were," said Pastor Jim Guzofski of Destiny Christian Church in Concord. "I think I know her character from my interactions with her. When we worked she was very professional, very committed to the work at hand. She took everything very seriously. She was a good lawyer, she really was. She argued our [tax] case before the Supreme Court."
If convicted of all charges, Biron could face anywhere from 15 years to life in prison—but don't worry; according to her (recently removed) Facebook page, her favorite book is the Bible.
UPDATE: After a trial lasting just two days, a jury on January 10 took less than an hour to convict Biron of all eight counts of child sexual exploitation, transporting a child across state lines to produce child pornography and possession of child pornography with which she had been charged. According to the evidence presented at trial, the "minor girl" whom Biron had taken to Canada to have sex with a minor male as well as several adult males, all of which was recorded on video, was her own daughter—and there's also tape of Biron having sex with the 14-year-old girl herself!
Biron, 43, faces a possible 25-year sentence on all counts.
Pictured: Lisa Biron, from solicitor to sex offender
