[Moderator: While not security related, this is directly related to
another article and discussion.]
Forwarded From: "Gilbert, Raymond (HT-EX)" <RGilbert@GI.com>
Latest info:
http://www.mcall.com:80/html/news/regional/4119.htm
Net porn suspect kills self in Lehigh
Bethlehem police charged William H. Prugh Friday with child porn.
September 23, 1998
By KIRK BELDON JACKSON And BILL TATTERSALL
Of The Morning Call
William H. Prugh, charged Friday with placing child pornography on the
Internet, killed himself Tuesday, authorities said.
Prugh, 44, of 2175 Pinehurst Road, Bethlehem, was pronounced dead of
carbon monoxide poisoning at his home shortly after 4:50 p.m., Lehigh
County Deputy Coroner Rick Pender said. Prugh's wife found him in his car
inside his closed garage, Bethlehem police said.
He was charged with 15 counts of possessing and disseminating child
pornography and was released on $20,000 bail. Police reportedly had seized
computer equipment and ''numerous depictions involving child pornography''
from his home.
A heating and air conditioning technician for the Southern Lehigh School
District, Prugh was suspended Monday after the district found out about
the charges, Superintendent Paula Fantaski said.
State police arrested him after a tip from a computer hackers' group known
as Ethical Hackers Against Pedophilia. Member Dave Holland said the
group's purpose is to assist law enforcement agencies in cracking down on
child exploitation done through computers.
Police gave this account of the discovery of Prugh's suicide:
Prugh's wife, Antoinette, came home about 3 p.m. to find that the garage
door would not open when she pressed the remote control. She then tried to
enter the garage through the house and found that the door would not open.
She later discovered it was screwed shut from the garage side with six
drywall screws.
Antoinette Prugh then looked through a window, saw her husband sitting in
the car and broke a window to get in. The engine was not running, but the
key was turned to the ''on'' position and the car was out of gas. The
radio was also on.
Police later discovered that Prugh had apparently not only screwed the
door shut, but also had disabled the electric garage door opener and cut
the telephone lines in the basement.
They said they suspected that Prugh had been dead for a couple hours.
Holland said that, despite the outcome, his group has no qualms about its
role in the apprehension.
''You never know; it's something that's happened before, not related to
us, but these guys have committed suicide in several cases,'' he said.
''We did our job by our mission statement and after we turn it over to law
enforcement, we have very little control after that.''
Prugh worked for Southern Lehigh since last year, said Fantaski.
Asked if there were any problems during his employment, she said, ''Not
that we're aware of.''
A routine background check when Prugh was hired at Southern Lehigh showed
no criminal record, Fantaski said.
''I have sympathy for the Prugh family,'' she said. ''In the position that
he was in, he would have had responsibility to go to all of our schools.
Given the nature of the charges, I think it was an appropriate action.''
-o-
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Received on Wed Sep 23 12:23:56 1998