Guest blogged by Steve Huff
Introduction {by Winter Patriot}: The BRAD BLOG is pleased to introduce Steve Huff, of HuffCrimeBlog.com. Steve is not only a blogger; he’s also a part of the investigative team for Court TV’s Crime Library, crimelibrary.com.
Ripples of shock spread from the little Village of Green Oaks, IL, through the Illinois political establishment on Monday as the news spread: Mayor Tom Adams, age 68, had been arrested at his home on Anderson Drive, and charged with distributing kiddie porn over the internet.
If convicted, Tom Adams could face 15 years in prison for each person who received child porn from him via the web.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Adams was being held on $100,000 bail. The charges against Mayor Adams were over a year in the making, according to the Tribune.
Adams used multiple screen names to send the child porn, and he was first snagged when in 2005 he sent several images of child pornography to an undercover police officer in Florida.
Tom Adams told authorities he was addicted to child pornography.
He was mayor of a town with less than 4,000 people, but Tom Adams had some pull in Illinois politics.
No more demonstration of that was needed than a look at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus executive board, founded by Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley.
There on the page beside Daley’s legendary name is Adams, who is listed as President of the Village of Green Oaks.
Adams’s appointment was recent. From the Village of Green Oaks’ Fall ’05/Winter ’06 newsletter:
It may not be proof of his status as a power broker in Illinois Republican politics, but Tom Adams was even a delegate to the 2004 National Republican Convention for the state of Illinois. The link takes you to a list of all the delegates posted at www.indymedia.org. Scroll about halfway down and you’ll see his name.
The Harvard Crimson, though, got a word from Adams during the 2004 Republican Convention. For an article about beauty-queen and Illinois native Erika Harold, who was heading to her first year at Harvard Law after speaking at the Convention, staff writer Joseph M. Tartakoff wrote:
“She’s very bright. I think she’ll be in politics one of these days,” said Tom G. Adams, the Mayor of Green Oaks. “She represents a new Republican movement. She speaks for our party very well. [She should] come back to Illinois and run for Congress.”
Before Monday, July 25, 2006, though, one of the few possible hints at something darker going on with Mayor Tom G. Adams was an article published in January, 2005, in the Waukegan, IL, News Sun, authored by Jim Newton. In it, a woman named Paula Hansen claimed that Tom Adams had harassed her:
Adams said the woman was creating a safety hazard for herself and others by walking in the street with her unleashed dog, and that he was trying to talk to her to explain that she should walk her dog elsewhere.
Lake County Sheriff Gary Del Re, who became involved after the woman, Paula Hansen, reported the incidents to the sheriff’s office, said officials attempted to mediate the issue and that he has asked Adams to call the sheriff’s office rather than confront the woman in the future.
Although there have been no incidents between the two since Nov. 27, Hansen called the The News Sun this week because she said she believes the sheriff’s office did not act on her complaints because of Adams’ position as mayor.
Hansen said that during the second incident, which occurred on Nov. 27, Adams followed her for 15 to 20 minutes in his 1997 Jaguar and that he didn’t leave until she walked up to a neighbor’s house on a side street. She acknowledged wearing headphones and that she did not hear what Adams was trying to say, but added he was driving “at me like he was trying to scare me.”
“He intimidated me, he was acting in a threatening manner,” she said…
Adams went on in the article to assert that as mayor of Green Oaks, he had “some authority on issues” when the safety of the public was involved.
Adams, a long-time insurance executive, made runs for other, higher offices than the one he held so long in Green Oaks, such as a 1996 stab at a State House Seat. He never succeeded, and maintained his position in his little Lake County hamlet through the auspices of the mostly well-to-do residents of Green Oaks, who seemed perfectly happy with him.
Until, most likely, yesterday.
Child pornography is not a victimless crime. It is illegal because for every instance where it propagates across the web, that is another instance where a child was victimized to make the porn. Distributing child porn as Tom Adams has been accused of doing makes the distributor another willing participant in the rape.
Not exactly anyone’s idea of “traditional family values.”
ITMFA
…and Republican Don Sherwood from Tunkhannock, Pa., who voted to impeach Clinton for “the blowjob”, beat his mistress Cynthia Ore and settled with her for $5 million…and he won his primary!!!!!!!!!!!!! His backers say, “That was different than what Clinton did.”
#1 Czaragorn,
Allow me to second that. ITMFA!! Only, it really should be ITMFsA (plural). imho.
I do not think there is any nexus between porn crime and being a republican.
Porn crime is a personal problem, not a political problem.
That is one great problem in our national discourse today … crime (e.g. election fraud) is contrasted with a political concept.
The correctly thinking mind will contrast crime with punishment, rather than with a political idea.
There is no political idea to contrast with crime, such as “the other guys do it too”.
So lets stop contrasting political ideas with crime … election fraud is not ok no matter who is doing it, where they are doing it, or why they are doing it.
Dredd: May I ask what you are talking about?
As far as I can remember, nobody ever said there was a nexus between porn crime and being a Republican. But listen:
Republicans campaign on “God” and “family values”. They pretend to be more virtuous than Democrats and/or liberals. When it turns out that a bigwig Republican has a very big difference between his rhetoric and his personal life, isn’t this worth pointing out?
I’m not saying that if a bigwing Democrat did the same thing it should be swept under the carpet. It would still be wrong and newsworthy. But the hypocrisy wouldn’t be quite so glaring.
I don’t see anyone contrasting political ideas with crime — I only see someone reporting the news.
And I agree with you about election fraud … but how does your comment apply to this post?
WP
Should be:
It would be the same fallacy if Mayor was linked to Kiddie porn I suppose …
The reality is that some demented person is accused of kiddie porn …
Without statistics linking small town republican mayors, small town mayors, or just mayors, to kiddie porn … insinuating such a link is a fallacy.
Big-town Republican Secretary of State, Big-City Democratic Police Chief, or anything else has no logical nexus to kiddie porn.
The only nexus to kiddie porn crime is kiddie porn criminal.
And such criminals come from all religions, athiests, creeds, political parties, sexes, and transgenders.
That is all I meant 8).
Dredd, the last line says it all: what this guy was accused of doing was not ANYONE’S idea of traditional family values.
They claim to be HOLIER THAN THOU.
The party of FAMILY VALUES.
They have the audacity to claim progressives/liberals
are – UNGODLY,.. DICSIPLES OF SATAN.
Their souls are no more pure than those of others,..
if they continue to use that fallacy to gain political
one-upsmanship,.. when they deviate from ideal social
and family values it is correct and proper to remind
them of the errors of their ways.
They are foolish to use GOD as a
political weapon and claim themselves to be more
devine. The CRAZY-JESUS-FREAKS buy this
nonsense hook-line-and sinker,.. we have a right/duty
to defend ourselves from this evil/fascist/
ANTI-CHRIST propaganda.
The LAW AND ORDER Republican Party.
The true and only PRACTITIONERS of
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Get real,.. we are all just human beings,.. we
ALL make errors and mistakes. Don’t rub
shit on my face,.. and I promise to return the
courtesy.
I’d like to comment on the kiddie porn – republican “holier than thou” connection that I don’t think applies here. First I’d like to mention that I’m a devout liberal with much contempt for the current administration and most of the republicans in washington. I don’t know what troubles me more, the NEOcons or the religios zealots, but my feeling is that they’re doing tremendous damage to this county.
That said, I’ll get to my point. I know Tom Adams, I know is wife, I’m a good friend of his youngest kid. My family, brothers, sisters, nieces and nefews all know the Adam’s very well. All I can say, is that we’re all very shocked. What ever happens here as far as Tom is concerned will be due justice and I don’t mean to minimize in any way the severity of what he has or may have done. But I do know this, I’ve never known the man to take the high ground on anything. You wouldn’t know Tom was a Republican just by talking to him, and I’ve never heard him bash anyone, other than to rib me occasionally when I take the high ground on a particular liberal view. In small time politics, one sometimes takes a political affiliation on issues as simple as raising the community pool fee to pay for the new playground. Again, I’m not trying to stick up for the guy, I’m just saying that his relation to the ralph reed’s of the world doesn’t connect.
However I do understand the comments. I must admit if I didn’t know the man, I’m sure reading about him would stir all the distaste I have for republican party after what they did to the country during the clinton/lewinski scandal. But I know the man, and the “holier than thou” lable just doesn’t apply.
“Neal Fiorelli”
Yes, the “Republican holier-than-thou connection” certainly DOES apply here.
Mr Adams chose to seek public office & he chose to seek it as a Republican. The Republican platform is “family values”. He chose to put himself in the public eye. As a public figure, he presented himself a certain way to others, & most importantly, he represented the Republican party.
He earned his living off that false image.
Pornography is one thing, child pornograhy is another & worse thing, but SELLING child pornography to make money for yourself, is really a separate low apart from the others.
I suggest Green Oaks check their financial records. My hunch is you may be in for another “shock”.
Despite your attempt to defend your friend & the Republican party, the fact remains, that Major Tom Adams certainly DOES deserve derision & he certainly deserves it as a Republican mayor.
No doubt about it.
Nice try.
ANYBODY who does not renounce the Republican Party NOW must be held responsible for every act committed by that party.
You can be a “good German” and you can stay a member of the “Nazi Party” because “that’s what everybody is doing” but don’t think for a minute that excuses your culpability when the depth of the crimes are revealed.
It was a mistake not to try and execute every single collaborating German after WWII — it would have made it quite clear that when there are only two sides and one of them is committing atrocities, you have to CHOOSE ONE SIDE or THE OTHER and LIVE (or DIE) with the consequences.
Republicans have demonstrated across this great country a higher regard for PARTY than COUNTRY or REPUBLIC. That is how they must now be judged — as a PARTY, not by their individual actions.
If you are decent; honest; fair; bound by the Constitution; willing to win or lose by fair elections; and not hypocritical in matters of moral behavior, then the Republican Party has LEFT YOU — it is time for you to LEAVE THEM!
Come on – give the guy a break. In a small town, where would you expect to find kiddie port? That’s what hypocritical repug government types are for, isn’t it?
Just like the last place you would look for integrity, personal responsibility, and character is in the white house.
Charlene, the Lake County, IL Sheriff already served a warrant on the Village hall and left with NOTHING, NADA. See article in Daily Herald:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=210870
In other words, this did not involve the Village, its finances or its computers.
Yep, one of my fears is the cognitive diseases … defective reasoning.
We all have it.
Some flaunt it.
But in a world where the death of civilization is a real possibility, one would expect that logic would be a valuable commodity.
I have counselled many of my closest friends to go to court and win one case, and lose one case. Without a lawyer representing you.
Then explain why you lost the one case, and why you won the other case.
I would have done it but I could never win a case 8) … just kidding …
It is cathartic 🙂 .
I submit this link for your consideration as to the great need for a focus on logic in the USA (link here).
But at the same time I express my skepticism of this poll … how can it be?
Dredd #16
That’s the Moonie Times. Be skeptical, be very skeptical!
Why can’t we arrest people for blowing children to pieces!
The link between Republicans and pedophilia is not a logical problem. It is a known fact:
* Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.
* Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.
* Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.
* Republican petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.
* Republican County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl.
* Republican teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.
* Republican campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child molester.
Etc., etc., etc.
http://www.armchairsubversive.com/
http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/...n_Sex_Scandals
Maybe I’m rabble-rousing, but you know, the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader, and Ted Bundy were both active Republicans as well. In fact, have you ever put a photo of Dubya circa 1978 and Bundy side-by-side? Chills, I tells ya.
Then again, we should never forget those ardent Democrats John Wayne Gacy or Joseph Edward Duncan III, either, who was a regular poster on a popular democratic website.
Both sides of the spectrum get equally shafted by the affiliated maniacs and perverts if you dig long enough.
Steve
There’s bad guys everywhere; but it does seem that there are more who carry the Repub banner…
Maybe it’s because, like church folks, if one crusades for a certain “morality,” one is more accountable to all such standards than those of us who are “live and let live” liberal types. I assume all of us liberals think that child abuse of any kind is wrong, but we aren’t worried about what any consenting adult does as long as there is no victim.
shw
…and don’t forget…Jeff Gannon…
Jeff Gannon, who is also probably little Johnny Gorsch, who was kidnapped off the streets as a boy of 10 or 11 in the midwest somewhere and became the first “milk carton child.” He later showed up at his mom’s as an adult in the late 90s telling a tale of being in a D.C.-based child sex-slavery ring for big-wigs. He then (after only a few minutes with his mom and saying he feared for their lives if discovered) disappeared and my late great friend Andy Stephenson made the connection that he was Jeff Gannon. Andy went on a TV show (CNBC maybe?) with Gorsch’s mom in late April of ’05 and they phoned Gannon who wouldn’t deny he was formerly Gorsch…
Sorry I don’t have links to all this nasty stuff, but I’m sure some of y’all do…
shw
How lame. If every republican in a town did a sex offense, there would absolutely and unequivocally NOT be any nexus between being in a particular political party and that problem!
If you can’t get that, your mind is f**ked up!!!!!
For example, if the pedophile were to change political parties, would that cure the disease?
No only NO, but Hell no …
This is proof that republican sexual activity is not all bad:
(link here).
The only lobby I know of that would try to cast aspersions on this old fella would be the Viagra lobby.
Because he does not seem to need them 🙂 .
Hugh Hefner, the man most responsible for mainstreaming pornography, is a big donor to the Democrat party. Free speech? Hah! More than a form of speech, pornography is a commercial product. Pornography is, at its core, the commercialization of women, turning men into consumers and women into a product to be used, ridiculed and discarded. More and more men of ALL backgrounds are sliding into child porn because of the need for increased stimulation. A lot of men have become addicted.
I also know Tom Adams…. He should be put in jail for a very long time. He had it all, retirement, a great house, the Mayor’s position of a great town, a wonderful wife and a great family. But he blew it all. He’s a stupid, sick,old man, preverted criminal who should be placed in jail forever. He will only serve a short time and get out and do what ever he does all over again just like the other preverts seen on Dateline. They go back over and over again. He should loose it all. He deserves nothing. He exploited children and before long he will actually have children with him. This man has done NOTHING for his COMMUNITY. I know I lived here for 25 years. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extend for his sick preverted behavior. He is a risk to everyone here in Green Oaks and we don’t want him here anymore.
#24
Norm Coleman’s dad,.. he might have OD
on Viagra,.. maybe he just gulped down a fist full.
81 years old,.. hope he was wearing a jimmy. Oh,.. he
likely has a script for the morning after pill. He’ll
be all set.