Filmmaker Brose may face child porn trial

BUFFALO, N.Y., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The city of Buffalo, N.Y., may have its first trial of a federal Internet child porn suspect with filmmaker Lawrence F. Brose's case, an official said.

U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter said Brose may be the first person to go to trial on federal child porn charges in the city's history, The Buffalo News reported Sunday.

"We have never had a federal child pornography case go to trial here in Buffalo. Everyone has pleaded guilty," Mehltretter said. "We did have three cases go to jury trials in Rochester, and all three were convicted."

The U.S. Justice Department said only 292 of the 7,234 individuals arrested on federal child porn charges since 2006 have gone on trial. Of those 292 defendants, only 15 were not convicted.

The News said Brose, chief curator of Buffalo's CEPA Gallery, pleaded innocent to felony charges of possessing and receiving child porn images. According to court documents, the 58-year-old filmmaker maintains he believed the images found on his computer were of individuals 18 or older.

"Before we decide where we're heading, I have to talk to my client in more detail," Brose's attorney, Paul J. Cambria, said of the possibility of a trial. "And I have to look at the images they have charged him with possessing."