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WSJ:

‘My Motives Were Pure and Innocent’ -

A member of John Kerry’s “band of brothers” pleads guilty to possessing child porn.

By JAMES TARANTO

Remember Wade Sanders? He was one of the “band of brothers”–Swift Boat veterans who supported John Kerry’s presidential campaign and appeared onstage at the 2004 Democratic National Convention before Kerry’s “reporting for duty” speech.

On the campaign trail, Sanders was one of Kerry’s nastiest surrogates. In August 2004, he likened the president to a “trapped animal.” In September, he compared Karl Rove and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth chief John O’Neill to Josef Goebbels. He repeatedly referred to the president and his men as “chicken hawks,” an especially nasty term because it is slang for a child molester as well as a derisive term for a nonveteran who favors a strong defense.

Sanders, who also served as a deputy assistant Navy secretary during the Clinton administration, continued his anti-Bush campaign even after Kerry’s defeat. In a December 2004 op-ed for the San Diego Union-Tribune, he lectured the president on “the heavy responsibility of command”:

(Sign On San Diego

Veteran admits acquiring child porn
Activist says files were for research

By Steve Liewer and Greg Moran

FEDERAL COURT — A San Diego veterans activist and Vietnam War hero who served in a senior Navy post during the Clinton administration pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography.

Wade Rowland Sanders, 67, acknowledged in federal court in San Diego that last May, he possessed computer files containing 600 images of minors, including a 21-minute video that depicted girls engaging in sex acts with an adult man, according to court records. He was caught under a 2½-year-old Department of Justice investigation called Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said.

Authorities arrested him Nov. 7.

In a telephone interview last night, Sanders said he had downloaded the files as part of his research for an article on the sexual exploitation of children in foreign countries. He said his work for the Clinton administration had included aiding victims of child sex abuse in the former Yugoslavia.

“I have no sexual attraction to children whatsoever,” Sanders said. “There was no evil intent.”
Sanders, a lawyer, said he didn’t realize federal child pornography laws barred downloading or viewing the material even by researchers. He said that is why he decided to plead guilty.

“I thought since my motives were pure and innocent, that would make a difference,” he said. “I’m technically guilty of the crime.”

Sanders pleaded guilty to one felony charge of possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

A judge scheduled sentencing for March 30. Sanders faces a maximum of 10 years in prison but could receive far less time. He also could be fined $250,000 and be required to register as a sex offender.

Sanders, a retired Naval Reserve captain, earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart while serving aboard Swift boats during the Vietnam War. He served from 1993 to 1997 as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for reserve affairs under Clinton. Since last year, he had been a senior adviser on military and veterans affairs for California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi until resigning Nov. 8.

Sanders had served with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in Vietnam, and had been among the senator’s most vocal defenders when some veterans questioned Kerry’s military record during his 2004 presidential run.

The investigation into Sanders began in October 2007, according to a statement filed in the case by San Diego FBI agent John Caruthers.

Another FBI agent working undercover signed on to a file-sharing computer network and entered a search term that is used for accessing child pornography images.

Among the responses to that search term was one for a specific computer address that the agents eventually traced to Sanders’ home in South Park in San Diego. The agent then obtained a list of files that were being shared on the computer and downloaded 11 files, including at least two that contained images of child pornography.

On May 2, 2008, agents executed a search warrant at Sanders’ home and seized his computer. During the search, Sanders admitted he had downloaded child pornography using the file-sharing program, but said he deleted the files once he noticed they were downloaded, according to the FBI statement.

He also denied “any inappropriate contact with children,” Caruthers wrote.

The FBI searched the computer and found “multiple videos depicting child pornography” saved on the hard drive.

After his arrest, Sanders posted a $75,000 bond and was released. He waived an indictment Dec. 4, meaning the case was not presented to a grand jury first. Sometimes that can work in a defendant’s favor at the time of sentencing.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessandra Serrano, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Sanders said he believes he is a victim of zealous prosectors.

“I got caught in the net,” he said. “I’m not the kind of person they were after.”

In 2007, Kerry attempted to use his Senate position to settle a personal score, scuttling the confirmation of businessman Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium because Fox donated money to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. (President Bush gave Fox a recess appointment.) In a March 2007 Washington Times op-ed, Sanders railed righteously against Fox:

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but one of the lessons drilled into me by the military and preserved through the memory of friends who were lucky enough to come home from Vietnam alive, is that truth matters above all else. And as a military man, it doesn’t matter much who is being attacked–John McCain, Max Cleland, John Kerry, or Jack Murtha–I just don’t believe that assaults on the military records of veterans belong in our politics. Nor do I believe that those who finance smears of decorated Vietnam veterans deserve to represent America on the world stage. . . .

Those of us who are real swift boaters know something about judgment and responsibility for our decisions.

The following month, in a letter to the editor of the Boston Herald, Sanders harrumphed:

Yes, I am a member of Kerry’s ready reserve of Swift Boat vets and unlike those who served with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their ilk, I serve with honor, integrity and exercise sound judgment. Fox would do well to reacquaint himself with those qualities.

Sanders is back in the news. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that he “pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography”:

The investigation into Sanders began in October 2007, according to a statement filed in the case by San Diego FBI agent John Caruthers.

Another FBI agent working undercover signed on to a file-sharing computer network and entered a search term that is used for accessing child pornography images.

Among the responses to that search term was one for a specific computer address that the agents eventually traced to Sanders’ home in South Park in San Diego. The agent then obtained a list of files that were being shared on the computer and downloaded 11 files, including at least two that contained images of child pornography.

On May 2, 2008, agents executed a search warrant at Sanders’ home and seized his computer. During the search, Sanders admitted he had downloaded child pornography using the file-sharing program, but said he deleted the files once he noticed they were downloaded, according to the FBI statement.

Sanders acknowledged in court that he had “possessed computer files containing 600 images of minors, including a 21-minute video that depicted girls engaging in sex acts with an adult man.” But don’t worry–his motives were “pure and innocent”:

In a telephone interview last night, Sanders said he had downloaded the files as part of his research for an article on the sexual exploitation of children in foreign countries. He said his work for the Clinton administration had included aiding victims of child sex abuse in the former Yugoslavia.

“I have no sexual attraction to children whatsoever,” Sanders said. “There was no evil intent.”
Sanders, a lawyer, said he didn’t realize federal child pornography laws barred downloading or viewing the material even by researchers. He said that is why he decided to plead guilty.

“I thought since my motives were pure and innocent, that would make a difference,” he said. “I’m technically guilty of the crime.”

If this explanation sounds familiar, you probably are thinking of Bernie Ward, the liberal San Francisco talk-show host who in August was sentenced to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography. As the San Jose Mercury News reported, he claimed he was working on a book:

[Ward's] lawyer urged [Judge Vaughn] Walker to impose the lowest possible sentence, saying Ward began downloading the images as part of journalism research that went awry, spiralling out of control when he began drinking heavily. Doron Weinberg, Ward’s attorney, told Walker the child porn downloading “spanned a brief period in an exemplary life.”

Don’tcha just hate when journalism research goes awry? To ensure that things don’t spiral out of control, we’ll give Sanders the last word: “Those of us who are real swift boaters know something about judgment and responsibility for our decisions.”