by John-Henry Westen
ARLINGTON, VA, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The American Civil Liberties Union, which regularly defends pornographers in court cases, is coming under scrutiny after a former chapter president of the organization has been arrested on child porn charges.
Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, the former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, was arrested late last week by federal authorities and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography in violation of federal law. The criminal complaint by the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicates that, over a number of years, Rust-Tierney frequented a web site containing graphic child pornography.
Rust-Tierney’s residence was searched pursuant to a warrant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Arlington County Police Department, where they found he downloaded videos and photos from the web site. Rust-Tierney, who coaches youth sports teams in Virginia, had previously argued against internet filtering of web sites in public libraries and pushed for “maximum, unrestricted access to the valuable resources of the Internet.”
WorldNetDaily reports that Rust-Tierney was a lawyer for the ACLU who argued against measures restricting access to porn on library computers. Enough is Enough, an organization working for greater protection for children on the internet issued a statement on Rust-Tierney’s arrest.
“That Mr. Rust-Tierney, a leading proponent of unrestricted access to the Internet, has now been arrested for receiving and possessing graphic child pornography should serve as testimony to the injudicious and baleful outgrowth of the legal challenges launched by the ACLU questioning the constitutionality of important legislation that protects children from Internet exploitation and content harmful to minors,” the organization said.