Man suspected of viewing child porn at library

A Lake Forest man was in federal court Thursday after being arrested in an Aliso Viejo library for allegedly viewing child pornography on a public computer.

David Lavern Paine, 68, was detained Wednesday after witnesses and library officials reported the incident to Orange County Sheriff deputies.

Officers arrived at the scene soon after the call and allegedly found Paine at a computer, viewing child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Paine tried to lock the screen when confronted by deputies but later told them he had been viewing “nude women, young girls, bestiality and Russian nudists.”

He told law enforcement that he was using a library computer to view the pornography “because it’s available.”

“The allegation that this defendant was viewing child pornography in a public place where young people and their families congregate is beyond disturbing,” Joseph Macias, assistant special agent at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Orange County, said in a statement.

A retired bus driver, Paine is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force.

Paine has a prior conviction for possession of child pornography and faces a minimum of 10 years in state prison if convicted in this most recent charge.

—Joanna Clay