Child Pornography Suspect Pleads Guilty

A San Diego man accused of being the major distributor in one of the largest and boldest international child pornography operations pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple felony counts.

Prosecutors said more arrests are possible in what was known as Overseas Male, a ring that reproduced child pornographic tapes made in Europe, Asia and Mexico and sold them through the mail in the United States.

Investigators found 387 videotapes, a 2,000-name mailing list, and 24 video recording machines for copying videos when they raided the home of James Leroy Kemmish, 54. The tapes were of boys, some as young as 6, engaged in sex with other boys and with men.

Barbara L. Major, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the government will ask for a substantial prison sentence when Kemmish is sentenced in April. Each of the six pornography counts carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Every one of these children was abused during the making of these videos, an abuse that will stay with them the rest of their lives,” Major said. “This is a very serious crime and it needs to be stopped.”

Investigators indicated that the videos were selling briskly, at a price of $75 to $200 each. Unlike much of the child pornography trade that depends on grainy, out-of-focus films shot with cheap cameras, the videos sold by Overseas Male were as clear and detailed as adult pornography, which flourishes openly.

Using the sales lists found in Kemmish’s apartment, authorities are investigating some of the people listed as buyers of the pornography. Two men whose names were on the lists have already been convicted: a man in Virginia for receiving child pornography, and a man in San Diego for molesting a 13-year-old boy.

Kemmish, an electrical engineer with no previous criminal record, was arrested at Lindbergh Field when he attempted to enter the country from Mexico with $16,000 he had not declared to U.S. Customs. A follow-up investigation linked him to Overseas Male.

The videos, usually done without narration, were made in Japan, China, Germany and Mexico. None were believed to have been done in the United States. The films, almost without exception, depicted only males.

The boldness of the marketing approach used by Overseas Male is considered more aggressive than other pornography rings. In fact, its boldness may have been its undoing, when people began complaining to the U.S. Postal Service about receiving unsolicited offers for child pornography.

Among the items found in Kemmish’s home in Pacific Beach were lists of the names and ages of some children in the videos, lists of “hot” prospects for sales, records of sales through late June, and a video catalog with snippets of assorted videos.

In his guilty plea, Kemmish admitted knowing that many of the children were under 12. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to make accurate declarations to the Customs Service, each of which is punishable by up to five years in prison.