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'Christian nudist' doctor gets 37 months Jury Finds Midland Doctor Guilty of Possessing Child Pornography Midland Reporter Telegram 01/13/2005 Rejecting a Midland pathologist's claim he viewed photographs of naked children only as a nudist, a U.S. District Court jury deliberated for 1 hour, 15 minutes Wednesday before finding him guilty of possessing child pornography. Dr. Morgan C.D. Dyer, 60, will be sentenced in about two months, Judge Robert Junell said. Dyer's wife, Sherrie, fainted when the verdict was read and court bailiffs called 911 for an ambulance. The three-man, nine-woman jury then told Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Beckner and defense lawyer Bruce Evan Foster it had no objection to Dyer's being a nudist, but the photos they saw during the two-day trial "crossed the line" into lasciviousness, the attorneys said. "Dr. Dyer did not view these pictures as pornographic and did not look at them in a sexual manner," Foster said afterward. "But he does accept the jury's verdict that the pictures are to be considered lascivious." Foster said a decison on whether or not to appeal the verdict hadn't been made. "The photos were the crux of this case," said Becker. "Under the law that's a crime and the U.S. Attorney's Office takes it very seriously." Wednesday morning Foster argued Dyer's possession of photos he had downloaded on the Internet should be leniently viewed in part because they depicted no sexual acts. "The only thing we have here is a single child who is naked," Foster said, referring to one of the photos. "This is not a smoke screen. This is a person's lifestyle. There is nothing illegal or immoral about it. This is a child who is involved with nudists." Foster said Dyer used the Christian Network, among other sources, to research nudism but did it "vacariously" and hadn't visited any nudist camps. Beckner had U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agent Adam Wilson of Fort Stockton re-show three of the numerous photos she had introduced into evidence Tuesday, contending, "Look at the pose of this young lady, sitting on a car. The genitalia are the focal point of this picture." The prosecutor said another photo of a young girl sitting on a beach was lascivious because her grass skirt "was pushed to the side," deliberately exposing her. "The defendant doesn't get to define what sexually explicit conduct is," said Beckner. "You do. This nudism business is a sham. He is kidding himself and trying to kid you." Beckner said Dyer had used an Evidence Eliminator device to delete thousands of such photos before Wilson came to his home in late 2003 to confiscate and investigate the contents of his computers. She said the doctor left only 50 photos that were characteristic of allegedly non-sexual nudism, proving he had much more pornography than nudism examples. Doctor calls himself 'Christian nudist,' denies sexual interest in child porn By Bob Campbell Staff Writer Dr. Morgan C.D. Dyer describe himself Tuesday as a "Christian nudist" and told a federal jury the images of naked children that federal agents found in his computer files had not been downloaded from Internet Web sites to sexually stimulate him. The gray-haired, bespectacled Midland pathologist told Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Beckner he had bought many of the images from 62-year-old retired Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Wesley Wood, who was convicted of e-mailing 39,000 pornographic images of young girls across the country and to six foreign countries here in 2003. With the jury viewing two children on a large video screen on the south side of U.S. District Judge Robert Junell's courtroom, Beckner asked Dyer if he thought the girls looked "coy or sultry." "I just see a picture of two little girls, nude, holding each other like you would see a lot of kids," the 60-year-old defendant said. He said another photo of a prepubescent boy " is a child who is not ashamed of his body and is just sitting there, nude." "Did you enjoy looking at these pictures?" Beckner asked. "Yes, I did," Dyer replied. He explained the children were identifiably nudist because they were suntanned but had no tan lines. When asked about his photo of a smiling little girl posing with her legs apart, Dyer conceded he wouldn't want his own daughter shown that way on the Internet Dyer said he bought and used an Evidence Eliminator to delete files from his computers after U.S. Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agent Adam Wilson of Fort Stockton came to his home on Nov. 3, 2003, suspecting him of possessing child pornography. Though he didn't personally consider the images pornographic, Dyer said, "I thought they would be questioned by society." However, Wilson said the Evidence Eliminator only made it appear the files were deleted and they remained in Dyer's computers. Wilson, who testified along with ICE Agent Anthony Castillo of San Angelo, said he is part of a national eight-man computer forensics unit. Defense attorney Bruce Foster of Midland wrapped up testimony for the trial's first day by asking Dyer, "You're not into nudism for the sexuality?" "No," the defendant said, adding his wife is not a nudist. "Do you feel like you've done anything wrong?" "No, I don't," Dyer said. Junell said the trial would resume at 9 a.m. today and be ready for final arguments by noon. Oh Those Wacky Christians "Dr. Morgan C.D. Dyer describe himself Tuesday as a "Christian nudist" and told a federal jury the images of naked children that federal agents found in his computer files had not been downloaded from Internet Web sites to sexually stimulate him. "I just see a picture of two little girls, nude, holding each other like you would see a lot of kids," the 60-year-old defendant said. He said another photo of a prepubescent boy " is a child who is not ashamed of his body and is just sitting there, nude." BACK TO NUDIST/NATURIST HALL OF SHAME |