Kraig Stockard Arrested After Burglars Find His Alleged Child Pornography Collection (VIDEO)

Teenage burglars may get away with breaking into a man's home after showing California police that their victim allegedly had a large stash of child pornography.

Kraig Stockard quickly transformed from victim to criminal suspect when the teens gave police stolen CDs allegedly loaded with thousands of explicit photographs and movies, according to Merced County Sheriff's Department Deputy Tom McKenzie.

The burglars -- one 19 years old and the other a minor -- stole 50 compact discs from Stockard's barn on Sept. 12, Fox 40 reports.

Later, when the young crooks asked a family member to help them record music on the discs, they discovered the CDs already were filled with a trove of pornography, including many images of children, the sheriff's department said in a statement.

Cops said that 30 of the 50 discs had images of kiddie porn. They raided Stockard's home and seized several computers, laptops and other hardware. But they haven't searched the computers for additional contraband, McKenzie told The Huffington Post.

Stockard initially denied that he owned the illicit material, but cops said he later admitted the CDs were his. Investigators said his collection goes back to at least 2004.

Police accepted the alleged evidence from the thieves, but didn't press charges against them, although the district attorney is reviewing their case, according to McKenzie.

WATCH:

 

Comments

[WoofingtonWoof]

08:31 AM on 10/11/2011

Whatever was on these CD's, this reeks of "illegal search and seizure" ...

[vernsmaria]

11:48 AM on 10/09/2011

You know you're a sick, gross individual when a person would rather go to jail than to let you get away.
Everyone is disgusted by child pornography, except the pervert himself.

[cmfrtblebbw]

11:21 AM on 10/09/2011

Who breaks into somebody's house to steal used CD's? They're already cheap, easy to steal, and you can get a zillion new ones for $20.

Anybody but me think these boys might be ON the CD's they stole? HMMM?

[thevarmit2]

02:22 PM on 10/09/2011

Doesn't anyone READ the article???

The boys didn't break into a HOUSE.... IT WAS A BARN!!

They were probably out messing around, came across an old barn, snooped around and found a carousel of CDs, and, made off with them.....

[shocktreatment]

12:50 PM on 10/10/2011

Why yes, I did read the article, the very first sentence: "Teenage burglars may get away with breaking into a man's home..."

The article goes on to say "...The burglars...stole 50 compact discs from Stockard's barn..."

Two events are described. Life is lived in the details, or not.

[mudshark12]

01:57 AM on 10/09/2011

Kraig deserves what he will get for owning that kiddie porn. The kids who turned in the evidence should at least get some probation and counseling so they will not turn to crime in the future. But the government has gotten too snoopy and needs to back off from it's tendencies to spy on, meddle with and otherwise harass us citizens.

[Denisehh3]

07:42 PM on 10/08/2011

Hopefully these teen burglars.......will now clean up their act.......considering they helped put a pedophile behind bars........a job well done........

[woodcrestmac]

02:20 PM on 10/27/2011

who answered them while a com -

[TT Esty1]

05:59 PM on 10/08/2011

The focus of my post was to look beyond Stockard to the law. Stockard's life is irrevocably changed whether he is guilty or not and as Carrie AllenCole suggests, he will probably take a plea. My question was as to when evidence is reliable and untainted and acceptable to the court.

I draw for an example the recent rape charge against Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York where the credibility of the maid deterred the attorney from laying charges. Much was made of degrading the maid with little opportunity to have her counter the accusations. Thus, to a degree, DSK was being presented as the victim. The question as to the dropping of charges was the consequences of her less than stellar reputation. On the other hand, was the dropping of charges the consequences of DSK's once stellar reputation. That is, influence.

This leads me to ask whether we are a nation of laws but that we are also a nation of influence and the latter can trump the former? Furthermore, if this is true, then that realization is brightening so as to cause such events as the occupation of Wall Street. Moreover, if we are a nation where influence tips the balance, legal or economic, then we are in for a serious uprising. We see a major model for this Syria and Libya where the ruling oligarchies are being challenged. Of course, in our case the focus is not on the government but the corporate oligarchy that influences it.

[amaboss52]

01:58 PM on 10/08/2011

Now that takes some guts, they may have been thieves but they did the right thing for a crime that is worse. Good for them!

[thevarmit2]

01:51 PM on 10/08/2011

Considering that there was never a complaint of trespassing or theft, filed by the "Porn Lover"... there was NO CRIME by the two young men, was there???

[stopspending]

03:14 PM on 10/08/2011

Yes, there was a crime of burglary, breaking and entering, whatever. Just because there is no arrest by the police does not mean a crime did not happen.
Even so, it is reassuring that the burglars turned themselves in to report the child porn. I hope the police do not prosecute them.

[wonderfullone]

01:49 PM on 10/08/2011

Now that's what I would call them "Good Samaritan Burglars"------They need to get their own reality TV show.

[SgtMom]

01:08 PM on 10/08/2011

"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people." Adolf Hitler

"As long as government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people happily will endure almost any curtailment of liberty." Rabbi Daniel Lapin

So now if a cop doesn't want to bother with getting a warrant, he can just get kids to break into homes and steal the evidence?

However repugnant you may find this, you might want to stop and think about the repercussions. This IS how Nazi Germany began..."first they came for the communists...but I wasn't a communist so I didn't speak up.....

To be historically accurate, first they came for sex offenders. Child molesters, rapists, gay men were rounded up into concentration camps and forced to wear pink triangles.

Which was certainly OK with everyone...until it began to expand to Communists, then Trade Unionists, then ....do I need to go on.

...........when they came for me there was no one left to speak up.....

[Steve Rotert]

04:53 PM on 10/08/2011

Very intelligent comment. But do you think that the vast majority of those on here will have any understanding of what you're saying?

[ronjohnjr4019]

01:03 PM on 10/08/2011

Serious? Who steals CDs? lmao

[Gigantorman]

11:18 AM on 10/08/2011

Wait a second before making these kids out to be heroes. They called the cops because they didn't want to get caught with the kiddy porn....plain and simple.

[Arturo Ramrez]

11:48 AM on 10/08/2011

They could've just destroyed it. Morality isn't an all or nothing deal, really.

[thevarmit2]

01:47 PM on 10/08/2011

Get a grip!! It would have been simpler to break the CDs in half and throw them in the trash.

[fridakahlofan]

10:50 AM on 10/08/2011

Two teenagers did the right thing by turning the cd's to the Police, they should never have broken into a home, but thankfully they chose to do something right and that,speaks volumes about who these young men are all about.
I'm not excussing their breaking in.

[thevarmit2]

01:46 PM on 10/08/2011

BARN!!! And, nowhere did it say it was locked.

[artofwar]

03:25 PM on 10/08/2011

Yep BARN!

[wuvnu2]

12:16 PM on 10/09/2011

Yes! I totally agreee w/ your comment. Not agreeing w/ their crime, but surely they should get lighter sentences for stepping up, knowing they'd have to admit what they'd done. Afterall, criminals who've murdered, raped, maimed seem to get rediculously light sentences, everyday. Northern Nevada is so lenient, I catch myself with my mouth open when I read about a molester getting 6 years. It's despicable!

[CAMBEL]

08:31 AM on 10/08/2011

Too many people, I suspect supporters of the kiddie Porn owner, keep claiming that his was an illegal search or that the evidence was obtained illegally.

The 4th Amendment to the Constitution ONLY prevents the GOVT. from using illegal means to obtain evidence. It says nothing about a criminal turning in another criminal. Half the people in jail are their because some other criminal provided evidence against them. This evidence was not illegally obtained, do not let those posters fool you.

[SgtMom]

01:12 PM on 10/08/2011

I am not a support of any kiddie porn owners, but I am a defender of the Constitution.

Suppose I turn some kids lose in YOUR home? Wow. What if they find some "planted" drugs or kiddie porn?

Of course, our "system" is too honest to do something like that. I must be watching too much TV.

[artofwar]

03:26 PM on 10/08/2011

Planted? No ones talking about anything planted in his barn. He admitted that the stuff was his.

[CAMBEL]

07:34 AM on 10/09/2011

You claim to be a supporter of the Constitution....and yet once again, the constitution says NOTHING about non govt. officials turning in evidence obtained during a crime. So for somebody who claims to be a supporter of the Constitution, it would appear you have never read it.

[Jeff Lustig]

01:17 PM on 10/08/2011

It's actually called the "Silver Platter Doctrine" When govt. officials obtain evidence that was handed to them, they can use it to prosecute. But don't be fooled by this. If the feds illegally search and sieze you property and it's illegal, they can turn in over to the state of city police and still be protected by the "silver platter doctrine" while the state prosecutes you/

[Valerie Buchanan]

05:27 PM on 10/10/2011

The "Silver Platter Doctrine" came to be around 1927. However, it was determined to be unconsitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1960 ruling in the case Elkins v. United States and is no longer an accepted practice. There's too much to it to try and explain the ruling here on this board. But if anyone is sincerely interested in the current status of this particular [former] law, here is the link to the case summary: http://supreme.justia.com/us/364/206/case.html

[mccann25]

02:36 AM on 10/08/2011

How can illegally obtained evidence be legally admissible in a court of law. I guess that judge was absent that day in law school.

[Carrie AllenCole]

03:30 AM on 10/08/2011

Perfectly legal. The thieves were not agents of the government, therefore it was not possible for them to violate this guys Fourth Amendment rights.

[CAMBEL]

08:30 AM on 10/08/2011

There was nothing illegal about how this evidence was obtained. This was one criminal giving evidence on another.

The 4th Amendment ONLY prevents the govt. or police from illegally searching. It says nothing about somebody else providing evidence. This evidence is perfectly legal.