State Prosecutor, War Hero Arrested For Child Porn
California deputy attorney general and war hero Raymond Liddy, 53, was arrested at his residence in Coronado, California, in San Diego County, on Tuesday accused of possessing child pornography. Liddy is the son of disbarred lawyer and former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy, who served in President Richard Nixon’s White House Plumbers unit that organized and directed the burglary of the Democratic National Committee. He was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal, as well as refusing to testify before the Senate committee investigating the scandal. G. Gordon spent four years in prison for his crimes.
Liddy’s son’s arrest occurred following an investigation that spanned several months, according to court records. Raymond Liddy has been accused of owning numerous images depicting minors under the age of twelve engaging in sexual acts. Liddy has been a state prosecutor since 2008.
The man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in federal court in the Southern District of California. He was placed on administrative leave and was released on a $100,000 bond. He’s been sentenced to house arrest. Liddy had been portraying himself on social media as a 48-year-old married man with children.
The investigation was initiated back in January by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization had received tips from an electronic service provider that images of child pornography had been uploaded, and officials solicited the help of the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children multi-agency task force and Federal Bureau of Investigation, who ultimately tied Liddy’s computer to the uploads. Raymond told investigators who knocked on his door earlier this month he had had “sexual fantasies” that he shared with others online and that he often saved sexually explicit images to the device. He said he used screen names and other fake online personas to share sexual fantasies online.
Liddy indicated most of the images were of adults, and that he deleted the images afterward, but not before forwarding some of them to others. Numerous inappropriate images were found on the computer as well as on a thumb drive in his home. “Just the mere fact of charges like this are a tragedy for everyone involved,” said Raymond’s attorney, Knut Johnson. “He has pleaded not guilty. This is the very beginning of the case and then we will get to the end and figure out what it is all about.”
Liddy’s neighbors are reportedly in shock. “He is a wonderful person. He is universally loved by a lot of different people who expressed that to me and he is a terrific human being,” said Johnson of his client, adding Liddy is also a Marine Reservist and served in Iraq. “He dedicated a whole lot of his life to this country.”
The state prosecutor was certainly well respected in the legal community as well as among his peers for his service in the Iraq war. He earned his bachelor’s degree from New York’s Fordham University, a law degree from the same university’s school of law and a master’s degree from the United State Army War College in Pennsylvania. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 8th.
Sources:
California state prosecutor charged with child pornography
Join the conversation!