And now I find myself wondering why Obama’s appointed US Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer seems not to want to put the consumers/distributors of child pornography (and possible human traffickers) behind bars.
Starting at the beginning…
My blog was never really supposed to be about me… I intended to use it to spout off about politics and government but now I find that it will begin to have more use in bringing to rest an issue I’ve been struggling with for a couple years now.
* UPDATE 8-15-11 - DISCLAIMER - The name Stephen M0rse is a very common name, even with his middle initial R. included. If you know someone by this name, please don't jump to any conclusions as it could very likely be a mix up. I've already heard from two other Stephens with the same full name and they understandably do not wish to be confused with the subject of this blog post. I have taken measures to limit the circumstances that this post pops right up in Google - but if you accidentally got here that way anyway, please do not be alarmed. Like I said, it's a very common name. Sorry for any confusion.
I am gay and I had been having a discreet sexual affair with a gay couple who lived in one of the wealthier areas of Fort Lauderdale. It wasn’t until the 5th or 6th time that I met up with them that they revealed their appreciation for child pornography. They showed me digital videos of horrible things being done to young children. These images still haunt me to this day.
In early May of 2009, I drove down to the Miami Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigators and reported what I had seen. The FBI took my report and sent two agents to my house to collect every detail I could remember about the situation. Based on my eye witness account, they began an investigation.
The FBI went back and forth with me for about six months and they encouraged me to go back to the men’s home as a “CI” (that stands for confidential informant) and gather hard physical evidence of what I had seen there… They told me that I was going to be their “star witness” in this case and they insinuated that they would pay me reward money for my good Samaritan reporting. I told them that I reported the case for the sake of the kids involved and I didn’t care if it would earn me any money (and that I would rather not get “famous” this way)…
One evening, I secured over 30 digital videos on a DVD data disc for the agents and they came to my house to pick it up the next morning. About two months after that, they (along with a squad from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department) raided the house that belongs to the two men off Bayview Drive.
An agent called to inform me that the house had been raided and that there was enough evidence on hand to prosecute. Her voice was chipper and she sounded like this was good news.
“So are they in jail?” I asked…
“No, not exactly,” she replied. “You see, we didn’t know that they were on vacation at the time and we raided an empty house that was overflowing with evidence against them but nobody was inside.”
“But you’ll arrest them when they get back, right?”
“Well, we’re talking to their lawyers and the lawyers are being very cooperative,” she replied with less conviction in her voice.
I think it occurred to both myself and the agent that I was dealing with at that time that this was not good news she was calling me with… These events were out of order. Since when do we negotiate with the lawyers of criminals before handing down an indictment or an arrest?
After that conversation it would be 6 months before the FBI would contact me again. It was a call from some kind of secretary at the FBI office in Miami to tell me only that I had been “released” from my CI status and my services were no longer needed.
Since that time, I have been trying to piece things together and conduct my own personal investigation into what went wrong and why these men are still free - and I'm not getting much help. The whole process should not need to take years, especially in this case.
Oh, the FBI has sure been back to visit me... They have promised that an indictment is on its way but have refused to say when. When I've asked them how I can get in touch with the attorneys who are supposed to handle the case, the answer does not come. When I ask them to verify my story with journalists, the answer is "we can't". When I ask them if there's a psychologist I can go to because I can't sleep at night, they don't know of any... This has been going on for over TWO YEARS now...
The US Attorney’s Office, who is supposed to prosecute cases like this has not issued an indictment against these men and they will not return any of my numerous phone calls.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who claims to care about abused kids has not responded to me either and neither has Senator Bill Nelson or Congressman Alan West.
UPDATE 04-18-11 : Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz' staff has returned my call and assures me that they are taking the issue seriously and looking into it. Nobody from her office removed my facebook post from her page either - it's still there. Evidently facebook was acting up when I posted it and it only appeared as though it had been removed. I'm taking this opportunity to apologize to Mrs. Schultz, her staff and my readers for that error in perception on my part and thank her and her staff for their interest and advocacy in matters like these.
But most of all, US Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer should be very concerned about all of this because as long as these two men are free to molest children (as they have admitted to me that they’ve done), I expect Florida parents to stand up for their kids and demand his resignation. I have done my part… In fact, I’ve done way more than most people would.
Let this be a lesson to people in Law Enforcement and Government everywhere. When you fail to do your jobs, the people will learn about it - there are photos, videos, audio recordings and documentation of all of these events too. The only way I feel that I can keep myself protected is to make sure that all of this is in the public domain so that there is little incentive to "hush me"... or moreso, to make sure that people never confuse which side of this terrible situation I am on (the side of safe kids and law enforcement that works quickly and efficiently).
I need to get on with my life... I have lost my job, my best friend hasn't called me in months, and even my own mother is hesitant to talk to me about this because she's afraid for my safety. If the US Attorney's office can't make an arrest or issue an indictment, they are putting my safety and reputation at risk after I've done everything within my power to do the right thing.
Did I mention that these guys live less than 1 mile from a school? I sure hope nobody lets their kids hang out the parks and schools in THIS neighborhood.
Now would be a good time to issue that indictment.
I can be reached at FloridaSqueezed@gmail.com
