He uploaded child porn to Twitter. He saw no crime because ‘the boys are beautiful’
When investigators bearing child pornography photos that had been posted to Twitter showed up at Gary Kolligian’s South Palm Beach home, Kolligian said he recognized the photos. He owned owning the child porn found on his laptop.
“(Kolligian) stated that he didn’t feel he was committing any crimes in possessing child pornography because he believed ‘the boys are beautiful.”
That’s from Kolligian’s admission of facts that went with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith sentenced Kolligian, 65, to eight years and one month in federal prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.
Whatever ghoulash of feelings were tied to Kolligian’s affinity for child porn, they overwhelmed any fear of discovery. As Twitter user “surfinwav,” he posted two files with child porn to Twitter in December 2017. Twitter notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The NCMEC notified law enforcement.
Kolligian got a knock on his on Aug. 19, 2019.
The Twitter photos investigators brought? He remembered them. The Apple Macbook Pro that investigators saw in plain sight? Kolligian let them search and provided the password. He admitted he sometimes used the WiFi at Burger King or McDonald’s.
“Immediately visible on the screen was a picture of a young white male, approximately 12 to 16 years of age, in a sexual pose titled “SCREENSHOT 2019-8-19 AT 5.21.20 AM,” the admission of facts states. “The law enforcement officer scrolled through the downloads folder and observed many other young males, some as young as 8, in sexual acts and poses, lewdly displaying their genitalia.”
Kolligian’s Macbook Pro held 12 photos and eight videos of child pornography. His Western Digital Hard Drive held 181 pictures and 19 videos. His two IDE Hard Drives had 103 photos and 44 videos. And, seven CDs and DVDs were packed with child pornography.
On Kolligian’s laptop, investigators pulled up a photo of one boy they estimated to be 7 years old performing oral sex on another about the same age.
Kolligian admitted downloading the photo and said the first boy was “maybe 8 years old.”
