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Man Put Girls' Faces On Adult Photos, Deputies Say

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 18, 2008

Updated: 04/18/2008 06:26 pm

TAMPA -- A volunteer Sunday school teacher took photographs of young girls from a church and a youth camp in Polk County and put together an album containing their faces pasted on pornographic pictures of women's bodies, Polk County deputies say.

Deputies saw 90 images in the album containing photos of the faces of young girls between the ages of 5 and 15.

Danny Lynn Parker

Danny Lynn Parker, 38, of Kathleen took some of the girls' photos at the Lakeland Acres Baptist Church, where he volunteers as a Sunday school teacher, a sheriff's office release states. Parker also took photos of girls at the Lake Wales Care Center, where he volunteers as a photographer at a youth camp.

Deputies arrested Parker on Thursday.

He was charged with 90 counts of sexual performance by child, which related to the pornographic pictures. He also was charged with one count of possession of images of child pornography.

The case may be complicated by a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal law banning computer-generated child pornography that did not involve real children.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Becky Steele said she thinks the courts may not uphold the criminal charges against Parker.

"I think there's a real question about whether what he's doing constitutes child pornography that can be prosecuted," she said. "It is very important that children are protected against sexual exploitation, and the government has a right and a duty to do that. It looks like the man is being prosecuted more for his fantasies and not for any actual child pornography."

Steele added, "The pictures that he took were lawful when he took them – at least I haven't seen anything to say otherwise – and the magazines that he purchased were lawful when he bought them. One of the reasons why it is valid to legislate against child pornography is children are involved and harmed in the making of it. This is more like making a collage where the children were not themselves sexually exploited as participants."

Stetson Law School Professor Charles Rose said the allegations are "creepy, but it's not necessarily a violation of the law." But Rose thought the prosecution might be supported cases because real children's images were used.

"I think the prosecution is on sufficiently solid ground that they should proceed," Rose said. "But I think the defense has some real potential statutory and constitutional issues that will develop …. It's an opportunity for the state of Florida to further refine how we deal with these types of cases from a legal perspective."

Polk County deputies made a similar arrest in December. Polk elementary school principal John Stelmack was arrested after investigators found him in possession of pictures that electronically superimposed faces of young girls onto images of bodies of childlike naked women, Judd said.

At least one of the two girls whose faces were used was a former student at Scott Lake Elementary, the principal's school, according to Judd.

That case is still pending.

"We think the situations here are distinguishable from those in the Supreme Court case, and so we plan to pursue those," Polk state attorney's spokesman Chip Thullbery said.

Judd said today he believes it's clear than when a child's face is superimposed on adult pornography, it becomes child pornography.

"You just can't do that," he said. "Certainly, were prepared to take that to a jury. We absolutely believe that is a violation of law."

The incident with Parker began when a Dade City resident saw trash in the dumpster of a Dade City egg farm that contained 90 images of young girls whose faces had been cut out of photos, deputies say. She took the trash to Dade City police, who found Parker's name and address in it.

Dade City police turned over the information to Polk peputies, who interviewed Parker at his home, 13650 O'Conner Road in Kathleen.

Detectives found the album under a sofa, an arrest report states. They also found hundreds of additional children's photos. Parker, who will make a first appearance in court today, told deputies the pornographic images of women's bodies came from magazines he bought in Tampa and Dade City.

"Lake Wales Care Center is deeply saddened by the recent reports of pornographic images found in Danny Parker's possession," said Rob Quam, the center's executive director. "We are cooperating with the Polk County Sheriff's Office with their investigation. As far as we know, no young person at Care Center's camps were ever inappropriately touched or photographed by Mr. Parker. As camp photographer, Mr. Parker was always in group and supervised settings.

"We will continue to work closely with the Polk County Sheriff's Office during this investigation," Quam said. "Regardless of the final outcome, Mr. Parker will not be able to volunteer with Care Center again."

Information from Tribune archives was used in this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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