As we have noted several times before, David Barton is not about to stop repeating one of his talking points merely because it happens to be demonstrably false, and today he provided more evidence that he simply does not seem to care about the truth of the things that he says.
Since 2011, we have heard Barton repeatedly claim that the Department of Justice under President Obama has not prosecuted a single person for child pornography. This statement is categorically false, as anyone willing to spend one minute searching the database of the FBI website will find dozens and dozens of press releases announcing arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for child pornography.
But apparently Barton can’t be bothered to get his facts straight and so he continues to repeat this claim, as he did again on his radio program today when he stated that “the last I knew, there has not been a single prosecution of child pornography under this administration. There were many under previous administrations; this administration just shut it down.”
This must come as a surprise to former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle who, just yesterday, was charged with child pornography distribution by the U.S Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana:
United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced today the filing of formal charges against Jared S. Fogle for distributing and receiving child pornography, and conspiring to do so, as well as repeatedly traveling to engage in commercial sex acts with underage minors. Fogle, 37, of Zionsville, Indiana, was charged by Information and has notified the U.S. District Court that he will plead guilty to all charges. He had his initial appearance before a magistrate judge earlier today and was released on home detention with GPS monitoring and other conditions. The case was the result of a joint state, local and federal investigation by the Indiana State Police, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with assistance from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to Minkler, “Mr. Fogle has admitted in court pleadings that he received child pornography involving multiple minors living in Indiana and other countries over the course of several years. His child pornography crime began when he learned that alleged co-conspirator Russell Taylor was sexually exploiting a 14 year old girl in March 2011. At that time, Mr. Fogle did nothing to stop the abuse or report it to authorities, but chose instead to receive and repeatedly view the child pornography involving the girl and those other minors produced by his alleged co-conspirator in the years that followed. It total, Mr. Fogle admitted in court pleadings filed today that his actions caused the sexual victimization of a total of 12 minors in Indiana before his co-conspirator’s arrest in April 2015. He preyed on minor victims who did not have the ability to protect themselves.”
…
According to the detailed charging Information and the admitted facts contained in Plea Agreement, between March of 2011, and January of 2015, Russell C. Taylor (who was federally charged in a separate case in May 2015) allegedly produced child pornography involving 12 minor victims in Indiana. Taylor secretly produced the images and videos of these minors, who were between 9 and 16 years old. The victims were filmed in Taylor’s house using multiple hidden cameras which were concealed in clock radios and positioned so they would capture the victims changing clothes, showering, bathing or engaging in other activities. Taylor allegedly then shared some of these images and videos with Fogle, who knew the victims were minors. During conversations and text messages with Taylor, Fogle made comments approving of the activity and discussed some of the minors by name. However, Fogle did not receive all of the material Taylor allegedly produced.
Fogle also allegedly received commercially produced child pornography videos from Taylor, who allegedly obtained the material through Internet sources. The videos were made outside of the United States by other persons and showed the sexual abuse of victims as young as six years old. Fogle viewed some of these video files on a computer provided by Taylor as well as through text messages and a thumb drive. On one occasion, Fogle allegedly displayed some of these videos to another person using a thumb drive provided by Taylor.
Update: Warren Throckmorton looked into Barton’s claim more closely and found that he was off by a mere 12,859.
