Head of US war porn website held

The administrator of a pornographic website that also displays photographs of Iraqi and Afghan war dead allegedly sent in by US soldiers has been arrested on obscenity-related charges, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reports.

Abuse of Iraqi prisoners has shocked the US

“[Chris] Wilson is charged with one count of wholesale distribution of obscene material and 300 misdemeanor counts related to 20 online films and 80 photographs obtained from his website,” the paper said in its online edition on Friday.
 
The arrest came more than a week after the story of the website and the graphic nature of its contributed images made headlines in mainstream media.
 
On 29 September, the US military said it had closed an inquiry into the use of graphic pictures of Iraqi corpses allegedly taken by its personnel in exchange for access to a pornographic website.
 
The website, administered by the 27-year-old Wilson, boasts dozens of often nauseating pictures of Iraqis after they were killed.

Shocking images

In one picture, the skin of the face of an unidentified person is peeled off – apparently blown off – and lies on a Baghdad street. Body parts are strewn about the street. Another picture depicts bits of his flesh splattered across a building wall.

“No one should be disrespectful of anyone who has died”

Joe Carpenter,
US Pentagon spokesman

The website, hosted on an Amsterdam-based server, caught the attention of mainstream media after it became the point of discussion on several blogs, chiefly those focusing on the effects of the US invasion of Iraq.
 
Contacted by Aljazeera.net earlier, a Pentagon spokesman said the use of graphic pictures was not in keeping with the values of the US military. “These are disgusting images and it is disgraceful that they are on the web. We do not know if they are genuine or who posted them. 
 
“No one should be disrespectful of anyone who has died. This shows an intolerable behaviour that is not condoned by the US military,” Lieutenant-Commander Joe Carpenter said.

Investigation
 
However, Carpenter said army criminal investigators had examined the website as a preliminary inquiry but found no evidence a felony had been committed.

The Orlando Sentinel, quoting the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, said Wilson was in the county jail with bail set at $151,000.
 
“For each film and photograph there are three counts – distribution of obscene material, offering to distribute obscene material and possession of obscene material with intent to distribute,” the paper said. 
 
Wilson declined to be interviewed when contacted by Aljazeera.net prior to his arrest.

Source: Al Jazeera