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Deaf man convicted in child-porn case - The Delaware County Daily Times : Serving Delaware County, PA(DelcoTimes.com)
A deaf defendant was convicted Friday of more than 90 counts of sexual abuse of children involving possessing pictures of youngsters as young as 7 in sexually explicit poses.
Sakuna Ganbari, 60, of Rutledge disputed that he had been sufficiently advised by authorities of his rights through sign language interpreters, when he signed a statement in April 2009 admitting the child pornography was his, according to defense attorney Denis Leonard.
“Without that statement, there is no case,” Leonard told the jury.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lesniak countered that two witnesses also testified that Ganbari admitted to them that the child pornography was his and the statement corroborated what they said.
“It is not a victimless crime,” Lesniak said in his closing argument to the jury. “Each of these images is of children being exploited by an adult. (Ganbari’s) possession is the continuation of that exploitation.”
During the trial, as the pictures were being shown, one of the jurors appeared to be visibly upset.
The panel deliberated less than two hours before finding Ganbari guilty. He seemed to wince as the verdict was announced.
A 9-year-old child had innocently seen the folder containing the child pornography several years ago and told Ganbari’s wife, according to testimony. His wife did not come forward until last year when she reported it to authorities. They are now divorced.
During this week’s proceedings, Lesniak presented testimony from Ganbari’s ex-wife as well as the girl, who is now in her teens.
Judge Ann Osborne set sentencing for Aug. 23, to allow time for Ganbari to undergo a state-mandated assessment to determine if he fits the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent offender.
There was no evidence that Ganbari played any part in the origin of the child pornography found in his possession, according to authorities.
Lesniak also challenged that Ganbari, who teaches sign language and is a few credits away from a master’s degree, didn’t know what he was doing when he admitted to detectives assigned to the county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that he possessed the pictures.
Two sign-language interpreters were present during the trial for Ganbari, who is able to speak but is hearing impaired.
Ganbari did not take the stand during the trial. However, he did testify during a February pre-trial hearing. At that time, the defense raised the same issues as to the sufficiency of interpreters involving his statement in an attempt to have the charges tossed.
Judge Osborne denied that motion.
Lesniak said he will seek a sentence of five to 10 years in jail for the defendant, who has been in custody since last year, based on the quantity of pictures involved in the case.
“In each one of these pictures there is a victim,” said the prosecutor.
A deaf defendant was convicted Friday of more than 90 counts of sexual abuse of children involving possessing pictures of youngsters as young as 7 in sexually explicit poses.
Sakuna Ganbari, 60, of Rutledge disputed that he had been sufficiently advised by authorities of his rights through sign language interpreters, when he signed a statement in April 2009 admitting the child pornography was his, according to defense attorney Denis Leonard.
“Without that statement, there is no case,” Leonard told the jury.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lesniak countered that two witnesses also testified that Ganbari admitted to them that the child pornography was his and the statement corroborated what they said.
“It is not a victimless crime,” Lesniak said in his closing argument to the jury. “Each of these images is of children being exploited by an adult. (Ganbari’s) possession is the continuation of that exploitation.”
During the trial, as the pictures were being shown, one of the jurors appeared to be visibly upset.
The panel deliberated less than two hours before finding Ganbari guilty. He seemed to wince as the verdict was announced.
A 9-year-old child had innocently seen the folder containing the child pornography several years ago and told Ganbari’s wife, according to testimony. His wife did not come forward until last year when she reported it to authorities. They are now divorced.
During this week’s proceedings, Lesniak presented testimony from Ganbari’s ex-wife as well as the girl, who is now in her teens.
Judge Ann Osborne set sentencing for Aug. 23, to allow time for Ganbari to undergo a state-mandated assessment to determine if he fits the criteria to be classified as a sexually violent offender.
There was no evidence that Ganbari played any part in the origin of the child pornography found in his possession, according to authorities.
Lesniak also challenged that Ganbari, who teaches sign language and is a few credits away from a master’s degree, didn’t know what he was doing when he admitted to detectives assigned to the county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that he possessed the pictures.
Two sign-language interpreters were present during the trial for Ganbari, who is able to speak but is hearing impaired.
Ganbari did not take the stand during the trial. However, he did testify during a February pre-trial hearing. At that time, the defense raised the same issues as to the sufficiency of interpreters involving his statement in an attempt to have the charges tossed.
Judge Osborne denied that motion.
Lesniak said he will seek a sentence of five to 10 years in jail for the defendant, who has been in custody since last year, based on the quantity of pictures involved in the case.
“In each one of these pictures there is a victim,” said the prosecutor.