Former Head of Virginia ACLU Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

Charles Rust-Tierney, Age 51, is Currently a Youth Sports Coach

Charles Rust-Tierney, age 51, a former president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was arrested Friday by federal agents, for allegedly possessing child pornography. Rust-Tierney, according to ABC News, which has seen a copy of the criminal complaint, allegedly used his personal email address and credit card in order to obtain access to a child pornography website.

Charles Rust-Tierney made his first court appearance on Friday, although it is not known if he is currently represented by a lawyer. He was detained pending a preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for February 28, 2007.

According to the complaint, "Charles Rust-Tierney has subscribed to multiple child pornography website [sic] over a period of years." The most recent instance was in October, according to the complaint, when he purchased access to "a group of hardcore commercial child pornography websites."

Also according to the complaint, Rust-Tierney has admitted to investigators that he had downloaded videos and images from child pornography websites and burned them onto CD-ROMs. The complaint states that the videos in question contain graphic, forcible intercourse with prepubescent females, one of whom can be "seen and heard crying," while another is apparently tied with ropes.

Videos and photographs were removed from Rust-Tierney's home as part of the investigation.

In a similar case last month, a former youth basketball coach and referee - Richard Bonnie Lakes - was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was given six month each for three images found on the man's computer. In that case, the possible maximum sentence had been 60 years in prison.