Information below excerpted, or summarized, from an article entitled "CHILD-PORN HORROR: Nudists' volunteer photographer charged; victims may be as young as 2," written by Mike McIntyre and Bruce Owen and published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 15, 2001.The full text of this article can be obtained for $16.00 from Winnipeg Free Press.
The case involves Bryan William Larsen, the elected representative for Crocus Grove Nudist Resort in Manitoba for the primary Canadian Naturist/Nudist organization. Larsen is on the current Board of Directors of the Western Canadian Association for Nude Recreation.
In an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press the co-owner of the camp, Lynn Prucyk, according to the reporter, downplayed Larsen's involvement with the camp and neglected to tell him that Larsen was on their current Board of Directors. Larsen is not on the American Association for Nude Recreation (was American Sunbathing Association) so-called "Caution List."
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Excerpted from the Winnipeg Free Press article:
Police say they have uncovered one of the largest and most sadistic Internet child-abuse cases in Manitoba and are vowing to "leave no stone unturned" as they search for victims, some believed to be as young as two years old.
A 41-year-old computer programmer was arrested Thursday at his Wellington Avenue apartment after an extensive joint-forces operation into what police sources describe as a "pedophile ring."
The man, a member of a Manitoba nudist resort, has been charged with possession of child pornography and detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. The man is a member of the Crocus Grove Nudist Resort east of Libau, and police said they are investigating whether any children from the resort were used in the pornography.
Lynn Prucyk, who co-owns the resort with her husband, said the man has been going to the summer resort for two years and even volunteered to be the photographer at their annual convention last August long weekend.
"This is very disturbing, a total shock," Prucyk said.
Police seized about 100,000 computer images that they say were posted on eight different Web sites that the man allegedly operated out of his second-floor apartment for the last two years.
They also uncovered video of nude girls engaged in sexual acts with adults, and are investigating whether sexual acts took place involving girls between the ages of two and nine.
Police say they believe some of the girls are from Winnipeg, and are trying to find them.
A camera, binoculars and 40 pairs of young girls' panties were also seized, according to sources familiar with the case.
Police say they believe children were photographed and videotaped having sex, and the images were posted on the Internet. They are investigating whether to lay sexual assault and production of child pornography charges.
Officers, speaking yesterday on condition of anonymity, said they were attempting to identify the children and contact their parents. They weren't sure how many children they could be dealing with, or where they all came from.
Prucyk said at the nudist resort, the man took numerous nude photos of adults and children, but had their consent in every case. The photos were published in their newsletter, she said.
"They're not pornography, I've seen them," she said, adding they've never received complaints about the man.
"He was a different type of person, not the swiftest on the block, but all I could see of him I had no concerns," said Prucyk.
"He has never been around children that we know of in our club. But we don't know any of his personal life outside of here."
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According to the same Winnipeg Free Press article:
* Larsen had recently lost his job and was seeing a psychiatrist.
* Larsen's lawyer says the police are alleging that Larsen was in possession of child pornography but that they have "hinted" there will be more to follow.
* the sexual material has been seized by police but that some of it may be on "clandestine porn sites" and that police are checking into whether young girls were lured to the man's house, and "whether drugs and alcohol were used."
* that a local police source said, "There are a few of us who would have no problem helping this person get introduced to his maker."
* that the case was part of "Project Snowball," a crackdown on internet child pornography and those who produce it, and that investigators claim that Bryan Larsen's case is "one of the worst cases they've encountered."
[When police investigators say it's "one of the worst cases they have encountered" it indicates an especially bad situation. I spoke with the author of the original article and told him I had a feeling this was going to be an important case. He agreed. --Nikki Craft]
On December 19, 2001 the Globe and Mail published another article about Larsen. In the article, written by Krista Foss, entitled WINNIPEG BRYAN WM LARSEN NUDIST CAMP, CHILD PORNOGRAPHER: Nudist charged over huge cache of child porn. The article is excerpted below. The full text is available on the Globe and Mail website.
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The Globe and Mail article says the 41-year-old Larsen:
* Voluntarily did the nudist resort's photocopying,
* Used his hatchback to move items and offered up his computer to receive and send the club president's e-mail.
* He edited and produced the club's quarterly newsletter, Petals, a job that involved taking photographs of some of the 140 members -- who include nurses, school teachers, truck drivers and one minister -- and their children.
* He kept the Crocus Grove correspondence on his personal computer as well as its membership list.
* As the regional director of the Western Canadian nudist association, he was a "liaison" between Crocus Grove and Manitoba's only other nudist club, Musqua Meadows. He attended a nudist convention in Regina last year.
The Globe and Mail article asserts that:
* Police said they have seized 100,000 pictures of nude children, including video clips of children aged two to nine having sex with adults. [Don't they mean getting raped by adults?!--Nikki Craft]
* That police said they are investigating whether Mr. Larsen produced pornographic material with children who were regulars at the nudist resort and made it widely available on several Web sites he operated. That Winnipeg Police spokesman Staff Sergeant Boyd Campbell said, "Certainly the evidence would lead us toward that possibility," [They need to be investigating other men who were involved with him at the camp as well.--Nikki Craft]
* That the allegations against Mr. Larsen have put the 32-year old Crocus Grove nudist club on the defensive, as well as the Western Canadian Association for Nude Recreation, that lists Mr. Larsen as its Manitoba director.
* The Globe and Mail quotes Bob Migliore, Crocus Grove president and the only person the nudists will allow now to speak on the topic, as saying "We watch everybody: Everybody becomes everybody else's grandparents,"
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You know, I get really tired of these camps getting so perpetually surprised every single time one of these cases comes into public focus. What good does "watching" do when the camp turns over computer records that includes private information about all their camp members who can be possibly be protected? Why are they allowing a man they know so little to be entrusted with the photographing of the members of their camp?
"Watching" a man take photos of nudist children gives a false sense of security and it is an empty promise of safety to members from camp administrators when the reality is that the leadership bestows upon a man--they don't even know-- the privileges and complete access of a top camp administrator, representative, and photographer. With the internet, "watching" a photographer take nude photos of children can't do anything and these camps know that if their members don't.
I hope that eventually there will be a lawsuit by the victims at one of these nudist/naturist camps that will knock the lesson home that they can't continue living in this ignorant naivete. There are too many people harmed while the magazines, that profit from publishing all these nude pictures, the organizations and the camps rake in the financial profits. This has GOT to stop! --Nikki Craft
[Help stop the abuse of children at nudist and naturist camps. If you've got information on this case please send it to: Nikki Craft]
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