An attorney who has been called upon as an expert witness for child-porn defendants appears to be the target of a child-porn probe himself.
Dean Boland has become known as a computer expert for defendants in Internet child-porn prosecutions, in a state where the law says a prosecutor must prove an image shows an actual child and not just a digital image or an adult who resembles or was made to resemble a child.
But Boland himself was held by the FBI June 24 while federal investigators searched his Cleveland-area home, emerging with computers and what one report described as "bags of documents," without disclosing yet whether they included child porn.
Boland's attorney told reporters the agents wanted evidence of child porn. The FBI is not commenting on the Boland investigation, and Boland was released later.
"Any lawyer who gets served and executed with this, it has got to ruin his whole day and hurt his profession and his practice," said First Amendment attorney J.D. Obenberger.
"He may be having a fire in his furnace because he fights for what he believes is right. I can only speculate," Obenberger continued. "But maybe, on the other hand, he was acquiring evidence in a case and believes the Constitution protects him as a counsel in those efforts. Anything would be speculation at this point, and we have to wait for the facts to come out."
Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection executive director Joan Irvine said the Boland investigation illustrates "one of the hazards of such a job" as being such an expert. Boland's testimony appearances are said to have outraged regional law enforcement and prosecutors.
"This is one of the reasons why ASACP is certain to have written correspondence with the FBI and Attorney General and recommends that people do not hunt down such websites," Irvine said. "We do not accept, download, or forward suspect child-porn images—this is illegal. We do not keep hard copies of such images—this is illegal."
