Man sentenced to 5 years for child pornography
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By Chris Dumond
Published: July 10, 2008
A Madison Heights man was sentenced to five years in prison this week after being convicted of 177 counts of possession of child pornography.
Corey Dean Meeks, 41, pleaded guilty in March to keeping the images on his computers. He was arrested a year ago, when authorities said he had a yearlong
relationship with a Virginia Beach police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl.
In an earlier interview, Amherst Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Maddox said Meeks sent more than three dozen suggestive images of adults and children to the police officer.
Maddox said Meeks admitted to collecting pornography for five years. Photos found on his computers depicted minors ranging in age from toddlers to young teens, she said.
Amherst County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Chris Smith said a Medical College of Virginia pediatrician noted that at least 800 images appeared to be of underage subjects.
The prosecutor said the sentencing guidelines in Meeks’ case called for as much as 178 years in prison.
Judge J. Michael Gamble sentenced Meeks to 354 years in prison Monday, but suspended all but five years. Gamble ordered Meeks to serve 20 years probation.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 17, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I’m sorry Miss Daisy, I mistook you for someone capable of serious discussion. My mistake. [You post:]...You’re right. And the prohibition against, and punishment for, murder, rape, robbery, child abuse, and every other crime you can think of hasn’t worked, either. None of these crimes has ever been or will ever be eliminated. So the logical answer is to just make everything legal”.. Congratulations! You just proved yourself every bit a Lynchburger. I never suggested legalizing ANYTHING. I never even suggested decriminalizing ANYTHING. [I did post this]..“ As I have attempted to impart to you, the problem of pedophilia is FAR MORE COMPLICATED than anything that can ever be solved with Prohibition like thinking or measures. You ended your post with this…“Your comments about Lynchburgers are just too ridiculous to even respond to.“ It’s a pity you did respond. By doing so, in the foolish and unthoughtful way you did, you joined them. How disappointing.
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 17, 2008 at 9:36 am
cosmo says: “Yes, because this approach has worked so well in dealing with illegal drugs and considering the success of Prohibition… who could argue?“
You’re right. And the prohibition against, and punishment for, murder, rape, robbery, child abuse, and every other crime you can think of hasn’t worked, either. None of these crimes has ever been or will ever be eliminated. So the logical answer is to just make everything legal—voila! No more crime!
Your comments about Lynchburgers are just too ridiculous to even respond to.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 17, 2008 at 7:28 am
[Crispy posts:]...[“You seem to have this smug belief that all Lynchburgers are exactly alike—Fallwell-worshiping, LU-loving, right-wing bigots who think higher education is a GED and traveling is a trip across the bridge to Madison Heights. Apparently, you are so stuck on that opinion that you will not believe that I, or anyone else from Lynchburg, could possibly be otherwise.“] I believe you Crispy! I don’t think ALL Lynchburgers are as you so aptly described them. Just the vast majority. All Germans didn’t hate Jews either. But enough of them did to make Germany a very nasty place for Jews. I think it’s the same in Lynchburg. You probably know the old saying..“If it has orange feet, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…..It’s a duck.“ Well, Lynchburg is certainly that duck. You are probably aware that the Bible Belt leads our nation in incest, child abuse, divorce, crime committed with a gun and other wonderful things. As I have attempted to impart to you, the problem of pedophilia is FAR MORE COMPLICATED than anything that can ever be solved with “Prohibition like” thinking or measures. That’s my only point. Would I expect the average Lynchburger to see that when they are firmly convinced that the Earth is 6000 years old and snakes talk and people can “catch” gay from gay people…..? PLEASE! If that’s your definition of “smug”... then count me in.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 17, 2008 at 4:28 am
(Crispy)..[you post]...“No matter what you say, this man deserves to be in jail for the part he’s played in children being used for sexual gratification.“ Yes, because this approach has worked so well in dealing with illegal drugs and considering the success of Prohibition… who could argue? As a matter of fact, if someone slipped a box of pictures in the trunk of your car and you were caught with them…. you should go to jail too. Unless they were only “simulated”. My contention is that the problem will NEVER be solved this way. One fascinating fact is that this “crime” is all but exclusivly committed by white people.
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 16, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Cosmo, I don’t have any religious beliefs—that’s yet another incorrect assumption you’ve made about me—so, no, I don’t push them down other people’s throats.
You seem to have this smug belief that all Lynchburgers are exactly alike—Fallwell-worshiping, LU-loving, right-wing bigots who think higher education is a GED and traveling is a trip across the bridge to Madison Heights. Apparently, you are so stuck on that opinion that you will not believe that I, or anyone else from Lynchburg, could possibly be otherwise.
I am an agnostic liberal with gay friends, and I believe that sexual orientation is not something that people choose. I have lived in different parts of the country and have made about a dozen trips to Europe. Except for weddings and funerals, I haven’t been in a church since I was a teenager. Believe it or not, there are others like me in Lynchburg.
My entire point in all of these posts is that child pornography contributes to unimaginably vile acts being committed on children from infants on up, and that people who view it have some responsibility for what is done to those children. You apparently disagree. Fine. I’m sick of talking to you about it.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 16, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Crispy… If consenting adults are caught looking at pornography that includes underage girls (age 17)... how many years should they get, considering the harm that drugs, disease and prostitution can cause young girls? [you ask]...“ancient cultures used to sacrifice children to the gods, too. Do you think that makes it OK?“ It must be! Don’t Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses have the right to refuse blood transfusions and medical treatment? Shouldn’t they? Wait a minute! You ain’t one of those people who forces YOUR religious beliefs down other people’s throats are you? Shame Shame (My point is…NONE of this stuff is AT ALL simple.)
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 16, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Cosmo, this is the quote where I mention sacrificing children:
“Regarding this quote from your post: “Pedophilia has always been around. The Greeks built a Golden Age of knowledge and philosophy while diddling around with boys”—ancient cultures used to sacrifice children to the gods, too. Do you think that makes it OK?“
What I meant by that is do you think sacrificing children in the name of religion would be OK now since it had been done hundreds and thousands of years ago. I ask that because your comment makes it sound as though pedophilia is no big deal because it’s always been around. And your comment about the ancient Greeks “diddling around with boys” makes it sound like a harmless pastime.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on July 16, 2008 at 10:56 am
Along the same lines, you ask…[“ancient cultures used to sacrifice children to the gods, too. Do you think that makes it OK?“] Certainly not for me. Being an Atheist myself all religious “sacrifice” is equally absurd. But who am I to tell people that their religious beliefs should be illegal? Would you like to give me that power if you could? I think not. If you and I were Aztecs 500 years ago and you even questioned cutting out the hearts of sacrificial victims it would be my duty to turn you over to the priests for “questioning”. Our ENTIRE society (that lasted much longer than ours by the way) would condemn you! So would I! Far be it from me to interfere with the sacrifices that insure that the sun will rise tomorrow. [The Point] being…. Might makes right…. very little, if anything, escapes the gravitational pull of relativity. I have read accounts attesting to the pride and honor felt by parents upon learning that their child has been selected for sacrifice. When the Aztecs were conquered by the highly religious Spanish they had Catholic Priests on hand to baptize the children immediately prior to bashing their little heads in. They were doing the Lords work as they understood it. Sometimes, the answers ain’t so simple as they appear.
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 16, 2008 at 10:08 am
Cosmo, your 9:53 comment was apparently posted while I was still responding to your 8:13 post. Several of the things you mention in your last post are addressed in my previous reply, such as your assumptions that I enjoy porn and that I have a problem with anyone who is not heterosexual.
When I said I don’t have a problem with porn if it involves willing adults, that’s what I meant. It means I don’t think it’s OK to use under-age girls or girls that have been coerced into it.
I can’t tell you how offended I am by your statement that you think I think this guy should be punished for his sexual orientation and that using the excuse of children being brutalized is just a red herring. You don’t know anything about me, yet you assume that I don’t care about children being raped, only that people with different sexual orientations are locked up.
If no real children were ever used for porn, and 100% of child porn were Pixar-style animations, I would not think people should be jailed for it. It would make me sick that it existed, but if it didn’t involve real children, people shouldn’t be subject to imprisonment for creating it or looking at it.
As for what this guy did being a “thought crime”, it’s not. He is helping to fuel the demand for child pornography that relies on the brutalization of children. His “sexual orientation” feeds on the sexual abuse of children.
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Posted by ( crispy daisy ) on July 16, 2008 at 9:18 am
cosmo, you classify this guy as just someone “looking at pictures”. You don’t think he should be jailed for it.
People looking at child porn is what feeds the demand for it. If people like this guy didn’t look at it, other people wouldn’t make money from raping and otherwise sexually abusing children for porn. Demand feeds supply. This guy is part of the reason child porn is such big business, and there’s nothing harmless about it. It’s not just “looking at pictures”.
Did you see anywhere in my post that I like porn? I don’t watch, read or look at porn. I don’t like it. If willing adults want to participate in porn with other willing adults, though, that’s a decision they’re old enough to make for themselves.
I also did NOT say that others who don’t choose their sexual orientation are “evil incarnate”. Some of my closest friends are gay, and I’ve never had the slightest problem with homosexuality. When sexual orientation contributes to children being harmed in unspeakable ways, I do have a problem with it. Pedophilia isn’t a harmless sexual orientation; children are brutalized as a result of it. Some people have an overwhelming need to kill other people or torture animals—just because they were born that way doesn’t make it OK.
I agree with you about starving children being an overwhelming, gut-wrenching tragedy, and I do my small part to try to help. The fact that there are so many children starving to death, though, doesn’t lessen the horrifying consequences of children being violently victimized for porn.
No matter what you say, this man deserves to be in jail for the part he’s played in children being used for sexual gratification.
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