Neighborhood Shocked by Child Pornography Seizure

Neighbors, friends and relatives of George Milledge expressed surprise Saturday to learn that federal agents, in a raid last week, had seized a collection of child pornography from the Placentia home where his wife operated an unlicensed day-care center.

“If it’s true, I’m glad they caught him,” said Milledge’s neighbor, John W. Torgerson, 58. “They seem to be nice, quiet people, but I guess you never know.”

About a dozen U.S. postal inspectors and customs agents, searching for illegally mailed pornographic material, found videotapes and films in the trunk of a car parked in Milledge’s garage at 1802 Kilmer Drive. About 25 of the tapes and films featured children.

Agents said a search of the house, which was adorned with Christmas decorations, turned up dozens of films and videotapes featuring teen-agers and adults engaged in sexual acts, pornographic magazines, sexual paraphernalia, an 8-millimeter movie camera, a video camera, letters and bank records.

Milledge, 46, was not arrested but probably will be summoned to appear in federal court, Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles J. Stevens said. Stevens added that he expected to present the Milledge case to the grand jury next week.

Three toddler girls and three elementary school-age boys were at the Milledge home when the agents arrived. Judy Milledge had been baby-sitting for several children for at least a year, according to parents.

County officials, alerted to the raid, have shut down the day-care center. They stressed, however, that they had no evidence the children being cared for had been involved in any type of pornographic activities.

One of the parents said the raid came as “a shock” to him. He had been summoned to the house Wednesday when Judy Milledge called to say that an “emergency” had come up.

“I met the husband once, although his car was there a lot of times when I went there,” said the father, who asked not to be identified. Like others interviewed Saturday, he had only praise for Judy Milledge.

“We felt really good about Judy,” he said, adding that his young daughter just “loved her to death . . . I really feel bad for her.”

The father said he was not concerned that Judy Milledge was operating her day-care center without a license.

Fauzia Shah, who lives down the street from the Milledges at 1822 Kilmer Drive, said she had been leaving her 10- and 8-year-old sons with Judy one afternoon a week.

“My kids never told me anything strange,” Shah said. “They very seldom saw George in the house. She (Judy) didn’t like to baby-sit after 6 p.m because that’s when he came home, so I would always pick them up at 5:30. Judy always seemed like a hard-working, honest person.”

George Milledge was described as a sales manager for an auto accessories company and a youth football referee and member of the Orange County Football Officials Assn.

Neither he nor his wife would comment on the case.

Asked whether any family members were shocked by what authorities found at the house, sister-in-law Judy Milledge of Anaheim said: “I don’t think anybody really knows anybody. What people do in their own head is their own business.”

At a nearby pharmacy where George Milledge had prescriptions filled, a worker said she and other store employees were incredulous at the news.

“It’s just a shocker for everyone,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified. She described Milledge as a “friendly man who would come in and talk about his family and just normal things.”

Federal law prohibits the mailing or transporting of certain material, including the “visual depiction of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” federal prosecutors said. Each count of mailing or receiving child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

Among the magazines seized by agents were “Children Love,” “New Lolita,” “Schoolgirls,” “Lesbian Lolita” and “Boys,” according to an affidavit that was filed in Los Angeles federal court, along with a search warrant. Tapes seized had such titles as “Teen-Age Deviates,” “Teen-Age Twins” and “Kim & Kathy and Friends.”