Pedophile has US District Judge on his side
In truly disturbing news of just how defective the U.S. judicial system can be, an admitted pedophile may walk free due to a technicality.
Yuri Berschansky, 29, was arrested after U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents found more than 100 child pornography videos on his home computer. The arrest was made in 2010 when Berschansky was found sharing the child pornography videos on a file-sharing site. Berschansky admitted to keeping the porn in a file he titled “K for Kiddie.” He even bought a laptop for his mother so she wouldn’t find the mass quantities of child pornography he had saved on his desktop.
However, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto wants the case thrown out as the search warrant accidentally lists the wrong apartment number. DHS agent Robert Raab accidentally transposed Berschansky’s apartment number with that of his neighbor which lives in the same duplex. Judge Matsumoto believes that a “technical error” invalidates the search warrant, saying, “The agents did not take every step that could reasonably be expected of them.”
Prosecutors are currently reviewing their options and plan on filing an appeal if the case is overturned. Berschansky’s defense attorney, Gary Farrell, couldn’t be happier with the mistake, noting, “It sounds corny, but the constitutional prohibition against unreasonable search and seizures has to mean something.” (Yeah, totally. Let’s just forget that your client is a pervert.)
As for now, Berschansky is free on $60,000 bail and awaiting a federal court date.
