Man who Committed Suicide Pleaded Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography
Matthew Kerns, who committed suicide Feb. 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of child pornography in December.
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A man who pleaded guilty to recieving of child pornography killed himself Friday afternoon during a visit from court officers.
The Maryland Heights Police Department said in a press release dated Feb. 25 that court officers were with the man when he fled to the basement. Officers heard a single gunshot, according to the release, and immediately called 911.
The incident happened at a home on Galaxy Court.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that the man who shot himself was Matthew Kerns, who pleaded guilty in December to two counts of receiving child pornography.
A quick search through Pacer.gov shows the original warrant for Kerns was issued on Aug. 4, 2010 for four counts of receiving child pornography. Authorities arrested him on Aug. 9, 2010.
Kerns entered his guilty plea Dec. 6.
Integr8er
12:11 pm on Thursday, March 3, 2011
I'm good with that.
Eyes Open
11:13 am on Friday, March 4, 2011
@ so you can: Do not be so quick to judge. You do not know all of the circumstances nor will you likely ever know them, but if you knew the man you would not be "good with that." Guilty of wreckless downloading and not not watching what comes through the wires would have been a more suitable name for this crime. He was a good man who died from the shame of his own carelessness. The church was full of good people who cherished him, most of them parents, who would not tolerate a pedophile much less honor one. I know this case and this man well, 31 years, and I can assure you I know for a fact that this man would never harm a child. i am a parent of two and before this case I woud have probably volunteered to do the deed myself based on the crime and charges. this case has opened my eyes to how mistakes can be made.
Integr8er
12:46 pm on Friday, March 4, 2011
I can only comment based on the information provided, and there are no specifics about the case listed other than he was apparently in possession of pictures of naked children, and was aware of it, since you must be aware of your actions to be guilty of a crime, and he did not dispose of those pictures once he was aware of it. I suspect to that he must have been involved in some type of chat room or otherwise spoke about it in order to have brought attention to himself thus precipitating the "discovery". I seriously doubt that any reputable website just pushed those pictures onto his computer without his knowledge as you suggest when you say "Guilty of reckless downloading and not watching what comes through the wires "
I'm just sayin'
Devil's Advocate
10:49 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
The previous poster may be alluding to the fact that we're all human, and we all make mistakes. It's easy to be "good with that", and it's hard to champion leniency for someone who may move on to production, molestation, or worse. On the other hand, much less heinous crimes are not sentenced based on what might happen.
For a non-production offender with no prior record, like Matt Kerns, being sentenced to years in prison, probation, and at least 10 years as a registered sex offender is hard to bear. No job, no friends, and no support for a long time.
In no way is texting while driving comparable to receiving child pornography. And although it's infuriating to see someone swerving while texting, reactions don't compare either. If they did, when pulled over for texting while driving you might get arrested with a commonly high bail and a statistical certainty that you would face an average of 7 years in prison. After prison, 5 years probation with no texting and driving privileges taken away for life. In addition you are branded a dangerous murderer in a registry that people despise regardless if you swerved and killed an innocent family or were a convicted first-offense felon of texting and driving.
Regardless, he was guilty. But if sentencing was geared towards containment, such as an annual polygraph test to determine if new crimes were committed. People may have a chance at rehabilitation without overcrowding prisons and being considered a danger to society for life.