MERCED COUNTY—
Two burglars looking for blank CDs ended up with a whole lot more after stumbling upon their victim’s stash of child pornography.
One juvenile and a 19-year-old broke into Kraig Stockard's barn in the town of Delhi on Sept. 12 and stole 50 CD-Rs. Stockard had reported the items stolen.
"I'm kind of surprised that he wanted to draw attention to himself, knowing what was taken," said Deputy Tom McKenzie of the Merced County Sheriff's Department.
When the burglars took the CDs home to burn music onto, they discovered that more than 30 of the “blank” CDs actually had child pornography on them.
The suspects came forward and reported the contents of the discs to the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.
"(A) family member convinced the two suspects to come forward, they contacted law enforcement," said McKenzie.
Investigators served a search warrant on Stockard’s property and found three desktop computers and three laptops.
It’s unknown how much child porn is on those computers. Investigators believe Stockard has been downloading the images and movies since 2004.
Stockard was booked into jail for possession of child pornography and already made his $25,000 bail.
The two burglars that found the pornography were not arrested for the burglary.
"We did not actually go out and arrest the suspects for the burglary. They were obviously the lesser of two evils," said McKenzie.
The burglars' case has been turned over to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office for review.
https://www.fox40.com/news/headline...rn-stash-turn-him-in-20111005,0,1755920.story
Two burglars looking for blank CDs ended up with a whole lot more after stumbling upon their victim’s stash of child pornography.
One juvenile and a 19-year-old broke into Kraig Stockard's barn in the town of Delhi on Sept. 12 and stole 50 CD-Rs. Stockard had reported the items stolen.
"I'm kind of surprised that he wanted to draw attention to himself, knowing what was taken," said Deputy Tom McKenzie of the Merced County Sheriff's Department.
When the burglars took the CDs home to burn music onto, they discovered that more than 30 of the “blank” CDs actually had child pornography on them.
The suspects came forward and reported the contents of the discs to the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.
"(A) family member convinced the two suspects to come forward, they contacted law enforcement," said McKenzie.
Investigators served a search warrant on Stockard’s property and found three desktop computers and three laptops.
It’s unknown how much child porn is on those computers. Investigators believe Stockard has been downloading the images and movies since 2004.
Stockard was booked into jail for possession of child pornography and already made his $25,000 bail.
The two burglars that found the pornography were not arrested for the burglary.
"We did not actually go out and arrest the suspects for the burglary. They were obviously the lesser of two evils," said McKenzie.
The burglars' case has been turned over to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office for review.
https://www.fox40.com/news/headline...rn-stash-turn-him-in-20111005,0,1755920.story
