# 47 Year-Old Man Looking At Kiddie Porn On A Flight: A "Cry For Help?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 27, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220 "2011-11-27T05:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/41 "2011-11-29T03:23:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [I’ll provide a linky, since nobody else bothered.](http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/first_class_passenger_from_uta.html) > > What kind of college professor can afford to fly first class? [This article](http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/justice/massachusetts-child-porn-arrest/index.html) indicates that he is also the president of an engineering consulting firm. I imagine he does–or, rather, did–pretty well, income-wise. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/42 "2011-11-29T04:19:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Cry for help, no. > Extra exhibitionist danger for extra thrills, yes. > Extra \*I’m special & I’m above sanction \*from some combo of booze & riding 1st class, hell yes. > Dumb / poor judgment / just not thinking it through from a little booze. Almost for sure. I’ll vote for this one. (on second thought, these three :)) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/43 "2011-11-29T04:29:14Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > [This article](http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/28/justice/massachusetts-child-porn-arrest/index.html) indicates that he is also the president of an engineering consulting firm. I imagine he does–or, rather, did–pretty well, income-wise. A lot of our professors at the University of Utah engineering department did very well for consulting. In the Salt Lake Tribune article I linked to above, it gives his salary at the U as $170k, and then throw on the consulting and he will (have) been doing well. If he’s guilty, it will drop considerably, though, with several years of non-billable time. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/44 "2011-11-29T04:30:14Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Then you didn’t read as far as the third line of the OP? Sheesh. Umm, maybe I misread the OP, but where does it say that the police checked the guy’s laptop? ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/45 "2011-11-29T04:34:45Z")
I find this hard to believe, but the local news is reporting that the University of Utah (my alma matter) pays good ol’ Professor Diddle over $170,000 per year, which I suppose would pay for LOTS of naughty pictures of little kids being molested, not to mention the occasional 1st Class flight. I had no idea that the U had that kind of $$$ to throw around for anyone besides a mediocre Football Coach…:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/46 "2011-11-29T05:00:58Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Umm, maybe I misread the OP, but where does it say that the police checked the guy’s laptop? From my link in post #41 above: [QUOTE=CNN] When a flight attendant asked Smith to shut down his computer, he began deleting images, prosecutor Erik Bennett said, CNN affiliate WCVB reported. Police who met the plane were able to recover 66 images from the computer, said the station, citing authorities. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/47 "2011-11-29T07:57:08Z")
Seriously! Suppose some local judge decided that such photos constituted pornography? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/48 "2011-11-29T08:14:49Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I always thought porn is used to achieve a specific…uh…purpose. > > People don’t just casually read porn like they would, say, Newsweek or something. They look at it as a prelude to certain behavior, or while engaging in said behavior. > > Am I right? Eh, not entirely. Or rather, sometimes the prelude can be rather extended. I sometimes check out a favorite porn site on my smart phone when I’m out of the house. It might be a few hours before I can, ah, “do” anything, but the anticipation often helps make the main event more satisfying. Of course, I don’t do this when there’s any chance of someone looking over my shoulder, and, obviously, I’m not looking at kiddie porn when I do it. Getting back to the OP, pornography does seem to trigger addictive behaviors in some people. I’m sure we’ve all heard stories about someone getting fired from their job for looking at porn at work, even after being previously caught out and warned that they’ll lose their jobs if they keep doing it. I’m guessing this guy had a similar problem, except he also happened to be a pedophile. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/49 "2011-11-29T12:11:37Z")
Assuming that this guy’s behavior was a cry for help would require us to assume that all those people I see working on confidential documents in a train or plane are trying to disseminate their employers’ information to all and sundry. I’ll go with “stupidity”. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/50 "2011-11-29T14:31:10Z")
Paedophiles will come up with [any old bullshit](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-29/20111129-terry-martin-sentenced/3702258) to seem like the victim somehow. No doubt the moron of this thread thought “a cry for help” might give him his get-out-of-jail free card, similar to the above-linked Terry Martin sleaze. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/51 "2011-11-30T00:58:54Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Seriously! > Suppose some local judge decided that such photos constituted pornography? I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220/52 "2011-11-30T12:08:54Z")
Who cares if it was a cry for help or not, the man should be" put to sleep", like a dog with rabies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/47-year-old-man-looking-at-kiddie-porn-on-a-flight-a-cry-for-help/604220.md?page=2)