It was an early spring evening when agents came to Bill Laursen's front door. His daughter had lived with him for about one year, and the two had just returned from Brookside to their home north of the river.
A jazz pianist who most recently had been playing with the Scamps, Laursen taught music part time at his daughter's school, the Kansas City Academy. After classes let out for the day, he gave piano lessons while his daughter waited for him at the Roasterie coffee shop.
Jess (her name has been changed in this story to protect her privacy) had been living with her mother in a small Missouri town but missed being near a bigger city. So she moved in with Laursen, then in his mid-50s. Before she moved in, they rarely spoke — at first, he didn't even know what foods she liked. But the relationship was improving.
"We were finally able to be really close, like much closer than some parents and kids," says Jess, a 15-year-old with honey-colored hair who wears a necklace with a miniature harmonica and has a blue-ball tongue piercing that flashes when she speaks. Jess also played the piano — and sang. "Most kids lie to their parents because their parents don't trust them, but with him I could talk."
They were making dinner when Jess saw two men on their porch, dressed in polo shirts and tennis shoes, as though they were planning a round of golf. Laursen met them at the door.
The men showed him badges and said they were agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Laursen says the lead agent told him, "We want to talk to you about immigration."
Laursen didn't believe him. After all, he thought, anyone could get a badge.
Laursen says he argued with the agents at the door for a while, refusing to let them in. Then he shifted his weight and let the door swing open a bit, and the lead agent grabbed the handle and pushed his way in.
"You might want to have your daughter in a different part of the house," the lead agent told him when he saw Jess in the living room.
Laursen looked at her. Jess could tell from his expression that she shouldn't argue. She went to her room and started writing in a notebook that she kept for song lyrics.
In the computer room, the lead agent was asking her father if he ever looked at pornography. If he ever looked at child pornography. The agents wanted to take his computer back to their lab.
Laursen knew he had child porn on his computer. Most of the images were girls about Jess' age in various states of undress.
On September 30, 2008, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Laursen's indictment on five counts of receiving child pornography over the Internet and one count of possessing child pornography, it was all over the TV news.
In addition to his job at the Kansas City Academy, Laursen also taught music at Community School #1 Elementary, a private school in Prairie Village. And there was his seat with the Scamps, the city's longest-running jazz band.
"It shocked the jazz community because he was so well-thought-of," says one close observer of the scene. "He wasn't one of the top players — there are a lot of good piano players in town — but he was a really nice person. People were just shocked."
Even if he wasn't one of the top players, he had to be good to get into the Scamps.
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I raised my daughters with Bill and his daughter as family friends. My daughters and I know that "creepy" feeling when something isn't right and we never had that feeling around Bill. I hope this means he got caught up in the dragnet on his journey to self-healing. One truth I know, Bill always treated people around him with love and respect and his life as we knew it involved his daughter's happiness and music. My prayers to Bill and his family and all who were hurt by this.
I raised my daughters with Bill and his daughter as family friends. My daughters and I know that "creepy" feeling when something isn't right and we never had that feeling around Bill. I hope this means he got caught up in the dragnet on his journey to self-healing. One truth I know, Bill always treated people around him with love and respect and his life as we knew it involved his daughter's happiness and music. My prayers to Bill and his family and all who were hurt by this.
This monster is being sentenced on 9/15. He was not looking at teenagers. Educate your selves on the facts. What he was looking at would make you drop to your knees.
We all have had tragic things happen in our lives. This gives us the right to exploit children? The fact that he has never addressed the impact of his obsession on these innocents, speaks volumes. All he is concerned about is himself and his pity party. He needs to go away. This disease is not curable. Look at the facts!!!
Being a "nice guy" has nothing to do with his crime. Lots of criminals are "nice". He is a danger to society, and the maximum sentence should be delivered.
This monster is being sentenced on 9/15. He was not looking at teenagers. Educate your selves on the facts. What he was looking at would make you drop to your knees. We all have had tragic things happen in our lives. This gives us the right to exploit children? The fact that he has never addressed the impact of his obsession on these innocents, speaks volumes. All he is concerned about is himself and his pity party. He needs to go away. This disease is not curable. Look at the facts!!! Being a "nice guy" has nothing to do with his crime. Lots of criminals are "nice". He is a danger to society, and the maximum sentence should be delivered.
I would like to start by correcting the individual on how my grandfather died. He died in a plane crash not an automobile accident. I would also like for everyone to know that this was my favorite uncle. I loved this man very much. He was so much fun and always went out of his way for everyone and always made sure everyone in his presences was comfortable and enjoying themselves. Now saying that, my heart broke when I found out what he had done!!!! How could my uncle do something like that? When I heard he had been arrested I thought maybe it was drugs, no he doesn't have a drug problem but I tried to imagine the worst and that�s what I came up with. I do not agree with what my uncle did at all and I feel he should be punished for what he did but the images were of teenage girls. I know that is not right but they were not pictures of girls that were 7 or 8 years old. Who's to say if these pictures were not posted on the internet by the girls themselves? I hate that this has happened to him and my cousin. I give her great props for standing by her dad. I myself have not spoke to my uncle since this has happened because I have such a strong hate for people who exploit children that I cannot bring myself to see him. It just kills me to know that the hatred I have for people like this is now related to me. I would like everyone who reads the article and who post their own opinion to know that he is not some creepy, back ally, weirdo that most will envision. He is a son, a brother, an uncle, a dad and a friend to many. He is human and made a huge mistake that he will pay for with his life and his daughter�s life. Because of the horrible mistake he made, he will not be their when she goes to prom, when she graduates high school, when she goes to college. He may not see his only child ever get married or even see his first grandchild born. For everyone that is so fast at pointing a finger and judging him when you don�t know him, just remember that this could be your son, your brother, your uncle, or your dad. There is no way of knowing what happens behind closed doors!
I would like to start by correcting the individual on how my grandfather died. He died in a plane crash not an automobile accident. I would also like for everyone to know that this was my favorite uncle. I loved this man very much. He was so much fun and always went out of his way for everyone and always made sure everyone in his presences was comfortable and enjoying themselves. Now saying that, my heart broke when I found out what he had done!!!! How could my uncle do something like that? When I heard he had been arrested I thought maybe it was drugs, no he doesn't have a drug problem but I tried to imagine the worst and that’s what I came up with. I do not agree with what my uncle did at all and I feel he should be punished for what he did but the images were of teenage girls. I know that is not right but they were not pictures of girls that were 7 or 8 years old. Who's to say if these pictures were not posted on the internet by the girls themselves? I hate that this has happened to him and my cousin. I give her great props for standing by her dad. I myself have not spoke to my uncle since this has happened because I have such a strong hate for people who exploit children that I cannot bring myself to see him. It just kills me to know that the hatred I have for people like this is now related to me. I would like everyone who reads the article and who post their own opinion to know that he is not some creepy, back ally, weirdo that most will envision. He is a son, a brother, an uncle, a dad and a friend to many. He is human and made a huge mistake that he will pay for with his life and his daughter’s life. Because of the horrible mistake he made, he will not be their when she goes to prom, when she graduates high school, when she goes to college. He may not see his only child ever get married or even see his first grandchild born. For everyone that is so fast at pointing a finger and judging him when you don’t know him, just remember that this could be your son, your brother, your uncle, or your dad. There is no way of knowing what happens behind closed doors!
::sigh:: This makes a lot of sense. Lock up a harmless musician. Another foolish result of laws that lead to overcrowded prisons that lead to violent criminals being let go before non violent criminals just because they were closer to the end of their sentence. I don't know how people associate downloading porn, no matter what it is, with whatever abuse may have been involved in taking the photos or videos.
The world would be a better place if they let this guy just live his life in peace like he had been doing. Why? Well, namely the prison situation I mentioned earlier. No matter how you play devil's advocate, violence is always worse than non-violence.
::sigh:: This makes a lot of sense. Lock up a harmless musician. Another foolish result of laws that lead to overcrowded prisons that lead to violent criminals being let go before non violent criminals just because they were closer to the end of their sentence. I don't know how people associate downloading porn, no matter what it is, with whatever abuse may have been involved in taking the photos or videos. The world would be a better place if they let this guy just live his life in peace like he had been doing. Why? Well, namely the prison situation I mentioned earlier. No matter how you play devil's advocate, violence is always worse than non-violence.
You don't like it, fine. It's not my taste either. But Bill was looking for legal images of young-looking women, and stumbled across illegal images of women under the age of 18. He was never accused of any inappropriate behavior towards anyone underage, only of having the bad luck of finding illegal material - material that would not be illegal in other countries.
But don't let mitigating circumstances interfere with your indignation.
You don't like it, fine. It's not my taste either. But Bill was looking for legal images of young-looking women, and stumbled across illegal images of women under the age of 18. He was never accused of any inappropriate behavior towards anyone underage, only of having the bad luck of finding illegal material - material that would not be illegal in other countries. But don't let mitigating circumstances interfere with your indignation.
Entrapment? I'm sure men are forced to seek images of young girls. Being a grown woman, young boys do nothing for me so it confuses me that young girls would do something for grown men. Sick!
Entrapment? I'm sure men are forced to seek images of young girls. Being a grown woman, young boys do nothing for me so it confuses me that young girls would do something for grown men. Sick!
OK, just so everyone knows what is going on here. Bill was caught in a dragnet to shut down Usenet. This is the second-oldest part of the Internet, after e-mail and FTP. It's been around since the 80s. It's mostly text discussion forums that have been supplanted by web discussion forums. But there are a huge number of "binary" forums for illegal software, movie, music and image distribution. The Feds want to shut it down, and "child porn" is the way to force Internet Service Providers to drop support for Usenet. They've been successful, and Bill is just "collateral damage" in this war.
How did Bill wind up with "child porn"? As far as I can tell from the article, the images were NOT porn, but nudity. Porn, by my definition, has to involve sexual activity. Also, the age of consent is not 18 everywhere in the world. Some places, it's 16 or 15 and nude images of people that young are perfectly legal.
There is a segment of porn that features young-looking 18 year old girls claiming to be 12 years old - your local video store has some in stock right now. They are perfectly legal. These video production companies post stills on Usenet "newsgroups" like alt.binaries.pictures.young-girls. Perfectly legal pictures of (barely) 18 year old girls. 99.99% of all the posts are like this, legal pictures of legal age girls. And a small number or pictures were of girls of less than 18 years, posted by people in countries with a age of consent of less than 18, or people knowingly posting underage pictures...or...and this seems most likely..."honeypot" images of underage girls, posted for the purposes of entrapment specifically to be downloaded by some poor schmoe, and a raid staged.
The end result? They can shame the few remaining ISPs that maintain Usenet servers to shut them down with the threat that they are distributing child porn, and a good talented man, who is the most inspired music teacher I have ever known, gets locked up for looking at images that he had every reason to believe were perfectly legal.
OK, just so everyone knows what is going on here. Bill was caught in a dragnet to shut down Usenet. This is the second-oldest part of the Internet, after e-mail and FTP. It's been around since the 80s. It's mostly text discussion forums that have been supplanted by web discussion forums. But there are a huge number of "binary" forums for illegal software, movie, music and image distribution. The Feds want to shut it down, and "child porn" is the way to force Internet Service Providers to drop support for Usenet. They've been successful, and Bill is just "collateral damage" in this war. How did Bill wind up with "child porn"? As far as I can tell from the article, the images were NOT porn, but nudity. Porn, by my definition, has to involve sexual activity. Also, the age of consent is not 18 everywhere in the world. Some places, it's 16 or 15 and nude images of people that young are perfectly legal. There is a segment of porn that features young-looking 18 year old girls claiming to be 12 years old - your local video store has some in stock right now. They are perfectly legal. These video production companies post stills on Usenet "newsgroups" like alt.binaries.pictures.young-girls. Perfectly legal pictures of (barely) 18 year old girls. 99.99% of all the posts are like this, legal pictures of legal age girls. And a small number or pictures were of girls of less than 18 years, posted by people in countries with a age of consent of less than 18, or people knowingly posting underage pictures...or...and this seems most likely..."honeypot" images of underage girls, posted for the purposes of entrapment specifically to be downloaded by some poor schmoe, and a raid staged. The end result? They can shame the few remaining ISPs that maintain Usenet servers to shut them down with the threat that they are distributing child porn, and a good talented man, who is the most inspired music teacher I have ever known, gets locked up for looking at images that he had every reason to believe were perfectly legal.
This article was a pleasant change from the usual "won't someone think of the children!" b.s. that you normally read about this subject. It's just pictures, people. The anti-CP people try to say that the girls are "re-victimized" each time someone looks at a picture, but that's just silly. And if someone can't consent to having nude pictures taken until they're 18, then how can anyone under 18 be allowed to consent to anything? And why can people under 18 be charged as adults when they commit crimes but not be considered adults when it comes to sex?
This article was a pleasant change from the usual "won't someone think of the children!" b.s. that you normally read about this subject. It's just pictures, people. The anti-CP people try to say that the girls are "re-victimized" each time someone looks at a picture, but that's just silly. And if someone can't consent to having nude pictures taken until they're 18, then how can anyone under 18 be allowed to consent to anything? And why can people under 18 be charged as adults when they commit crimes but not be considered adults when it comes to sex?
Oh, Laursen, cry me a f*****g river! Are you really so dense as to not recognize the damage caused to children used for child pornography? I saw my sister die when she was 13 and I was 15, my father was always a terrible, terrible parent, and these experiences cannot, under any circumstance, be used as an excuse for any of my decisions.
Oh, Laursen, cry me a f*****g river! Are you really so dense as to not recognize the damage caused to children used for child pornography? I saw my sister die when she was 13 and I was 15, my father was always a terrible, terrible parent, and these experiences cannot, under any circumstance, be used as an excuse for any of my decisions.
So, this guy blames his father's fatal car accident as to why he had multiple pictures of teen girls undressing or performing sexual acts? GMAFB! He's going exactly where he belongs, PRISON.
Just because he didn't touch the child in his home, doesn't negate what he has done. Sure he kept it separate from work and others in his circle. Yet, he couldn't keep an intimate relationship with a GROWN WOMAN. Hmmmmm. Isn't that special! Could it be because he was too busy looking at CHILD PORN? How forgiving would his friends have been if it were one of their neices, daughters or other female relatives on the computer?
Everyone can justify their actions if given enough time to do so.
So, this guy blames his father's fatal car accident as to why he had multiple pictures of teen girls undressing or performing sexual acts? GMAFB! He's going exactly where he belongs, PRISON. Just because he didn't touch the child in his home, doesn't negate what he has done. Sure he kept it separate from work and others in his circle. Yet, he couldn't keep an intimate relationship with a GROWN WOMAN. Hmmmmm. Isn't that special! Could it be because he was too busy looking at CHILD PORN? How forgiving would his friends have been if it were one of their neices, daughters or other female relatives on the computer? Everyone can justify their actions if given enough time to do so.
I'm truely amazed how anyone can compare child porn to wearing fur or driving suv's. As far as this being a private matter don't you think these children deserve their privacy? Not hurting anyone? I'm sure these children would strongly disagree. This is exactly why we don't need to make exceptions, child porn usually involves people you would never expect. I truly feel for all the lives he has ruined including his daughter. As far as the Federal agents not doing their job properly, that's funny coming from someone with high ethics.
I'm truely amazed how anyone can compare child porn to wearing fur or driving suv's. As far as this being a private matter don't you think these children deserve their privacy? Not hurting anyone? I'm sure these children would strongly disagree. This is exactly why we don't need to make exceptions, child porn usually involves people you would never expect. I truly feel for all the lives he has ruined including his daughter. As far as the Federal agents not doing their job properly, that's funny coming from someone with high ethics.
I get the fascination with television but not with porn. It's great to watch some maniac stunt guy jump from a 30 story building to make an actor look viral. It's even better, for me at least, to watch cowboys get shot from racing horses. TV is an escape, passive entertainment. But I have about as much interest in porn as I have in being eaten by a shark and infinitely less when it involves children. Personally, I enjoy a woman's company over that of a magazine or computer screen. Besides, having an affair with an internet porn site makes the Company Christmas Party much more awkward than having an affair with your manager's wife, when introductions are being made. A few drinks before the party makes being introduced to your manager's wife a breeze unless you decide to slip her the tongue in lieu of a firm hand shake. But even that can be chalked up as a compliment to your superior's superb taste, if you play your cards right. But what does a porn freak do
at the annual company bash when his colleagues are introducing their partners to him? Does he stand there with a stunned look on his face wondering what to say? Hell no. Our fearless lover, like all smart males, includes his better half in all of his social outings and not just trips to his favorite coffee spot. In this instance, he slides his carry case off his shoulder, unzips it and slips out his laptop, proudly introducing Beauty his latest sweetie and politely asks if they'd like to meet some of her friends.
Johnny Transistor,
August 2, 2009
I get the fascination with television but not with porn. It's great to watch some maniac stunt guy jump from a 30 story building to make an actor look viral. It's even better, for me at least, to watch cowboys get shot from racing horses. TV is an escape, passive entertainment. But I have about as much interest in porn as I have in being eaten by a shark and infinitely less when it involves children. Personally, I enjoy a woman's company over that of a magazine or computer screen. Besides, having an affair with an internet porn site makes the Company Christmas Party much more awkward than having an affair with your manager's wife, when introductions are being made. A few drinks before the party makes being introduced to your manager's wife a breeze unless you decide to slip her the tongue in lieu of a firm hand shake. But even that can be chalked up as a compliment to your superior's superb taste, if you play your cards right. But what does a porn freak do at the annual company bash when his colleagues are introducing their partners to him? Does he stand there with a stunned look on his face wondering what to say? Hell no. Our fearless lover, like all smart males, includes his better half in all of his social outings and not just trips to his favorite coffee spot. In this instance, he slides his carry case off his shoulder, unzips it and slips out his laptop, proudly introducing Beauty his latest sweetie and politely asks if they'd like to meet some of her friends. Johnny Transistor, August 2, 2009
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