A well-known local figure charged with felony child pornography was back in Humboldt County Superior Court Tuesday.
Cole Machado was arrested in late July, and images depicting a person or persons under the age of 18 engaged in or simulating sexual acts were found on his computer, according to police. Machado has pled not guilty.
In a broadcast on Channel 3 prosecutor Allan Dollison declined to give details about the age or gender of persons in the images. He said Machado faces up to 3 years in prison, or could get probation and spend time in the county clink. If convicted Machado might also face lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Machado will be back in court on September 15.
I doubt more cruelty is an answer. It does not heal the victims. It does not change behavior. It is just more cruelty in a world where more sanity is needed.
I hope you are ok Alfie. I hope you are not hurting from abuse you may have suffered and I hope that your comment does not come from any self hatred because you have a problem controlling your own actions.
I’d like to know whether there is evidence of trafficing and whether there’s verified ages, or if cops merely suspect the people depicted are underage. There was a report a month or two ago about some guy facing child porn charges and his saving grace was the adult over-18 actress involved in the porn showing up at trial to point out that she’s not a child. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these cases are overblown. We’re never really given any tangible details in media reports. People just assume guilt, and reporters never do their job.
Do any of you see how the “judicial system” has proved again to be a complete failure?
The parents of the victims should NOT have even brought the “police” into the issue, instead should have handled the matter privately.
Now these pictures, if he isn’t in them and they are just internet pictures- there are many reasons as to how they could have been on his computer- if the pictures DO show him, the parents should have just tossed his ass down a shallow well that dries up for the summer and covered his ass in quick lime, then sealed it up.
All the police have to do is get a warrant and confiscate a computer. It could happen to anyone. How many people view regular porn online? Could we have a show of hands, please? No one? No one at all?
I thought so. Hypocrites! You know you view online porn. And you know how easy it would be for a policeman with an axe to grind against you to pretend that some young looking beauty on your hard drive was under 18 when she or he really was not. Then all you have to do is prove you are not a viewer of child porn and a likely child molester.
Sure. Even if you can prove your innocence, just try to get your reputation back if that ever happens to you.
We all know the words “innocent until proven guilty” and we all ignore them all the time. How will you feel when it’s your turn to be the accused?
Ha Ha!!!! this pervert is going to find he will never get a govt job or a job where anyone ever does a search or background check. After making his new friends in prison he is going to have a miserable life waiting tables or working in a car wash. Get ready Cole, it’s going to be a real bumpy ride.
He hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet. Just thought I’d point that out.
Well of course Eric is correct that he’s not yet been legally judged. But an indictment means there’s serious and credible incriminating evidence. So unless the evidence turns out to be totally bogus, his reputation is tarnished. And since he’s already reduced to HumCo, a last stop for persons with shady pasts, wheres he to go?
I’d laugh it that thought wasn’t so sad. People get indicted on bogus evidence every single day in this country, from overzealous misinterpretation to outright fabrication.
A serious issue in every one of these porn cases is the nature of the porn and whether there is any evidence that the people depicted are not actors. There should be — but is not — a burden of proof on the part of law enforcement that their claims are true about the ages of people involved. Stack a jury with people who have never viewed porn and a prosecutor could easily get away with jailing an innocent person.
There appears to be a fine line between child pornography and teenage sex, which is all over our culture. Is the Victoria’s Secret
“Pink” store child porn?
Nice to see that, for the most part, comments here are on the side of caution on this issue.
Let’s remember that while Cole is a pathetic person, we don’t know really what he has done yet. So far all he has been charged with is possessing gay porn pictures of kids under 16. We don’t even know if the kids are 16 or 6.
I meant kids under age 18 of course.
Yes, your conscious mind said 18, but your blood-thirsty unconsious mind said 16. Assumptions! What are they good for? Absolutely nothing!
Are you suggesting there are separate charges for gay porn? The prosecutor declined to say the gender of the person(s) in the photos.
Do you think he purchased his own pre-paid legal product?
High Finance has already convicted the guy. The third option he omitted is that the porn is legal involving young-looking actors over 18 years of age and the authorities are terribly uninformed, or have other reasons to jump to conclusions. Of course, we have no idea because our intrepid reporters didn’t think to ask about the nature of the evidence found.
Oh, but I’m being silly. Everyone in jail is guilty. We all know that.
With the new picture Heraldo has provided, 1:11 is correct. No need for a trial — Cole is Willie Horton!
I spent 22 years as a Corrections Officer both at county and state level. I can tell you with certainty that Cole won’t last a week in any facility.
People that prey on kids are the lowest rung in the system and the gay kiddie perps have it the hardest. It isn’t the general population he will have to worry about it is the gay prisoners. People like Cole make it harder on them.
I hope he has high bail as if it was me, I would be out of here. BTW, any news from Humboldt Pride where Cole is a director. How do they spin one of their directors getting off looking at pictures of kids. His gay activist days are over, toxic.
Are you totally stupid Anon 1.11am? I said the exact opposite you jerk. I said to hold off till we find out what he is charged with.
I am not affiliated with Humboldt Pride, but a quick check shows that 8:01 is incorrect (at least as of today) about Cole being a director:
http://humboldtpride.org/leadership.htm
Cole was involved with Pride two years ago, but not the last two years (last year and the one in September).
The comments from Eric Kirk, HiFi, Fred and Bolithio are a welcome contrast to the lynch mob goons like Alfie and Anonymous 5:35.
He claims to be a board member of Humboldt Pride.
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/account/ColeMachado
As the founder of Impact Humboldt he took pleasure in posting the information on people who supported prop 8 http://blog.impacthumboldt.com/ I think I will return the favor Cole, you know, get your name into as many search engines as possible. You got to love karma
The information on local supporters of Proposition 8 was not posted on Impact Humboldt. Look through the entire blog and you will not find this information. It was never there.
However, the names and residences of proposition 8 is public information available from a state website.
3rd link down and info went out in emails sent by impact at the time very prominent. Look Angel, or should we call you Cole, you can’t spin this. Supporting an industry that exploits children all the while running around talking about “hate” just shows you for what you really are. Slime. Have a great life! (washing dishes)
We hear it over and over again, so it must be true: Every felon in prison considers himself the rightful judge, jury and executioner of other felons who were convicted of sex crimes against children.
Since these self-appointed executioners want to subvert the will of the People, as expressed through our government and our laws, I suggest we execute all people who are convicted of felonies.
That will prevent felons who arrived in prison for a great many heinous crimes from deluding themselves that they are in any way better than anyone else who breaks the law. It will prevent the vigilantes in our prisons from taking “the law” (of the jungle) into their own hands.
Anon, can I call you Cole?
The information is public information available because of campaign finance disclosure laws. You have a problem with public disclosure then take it up with your elected representatives.
Why do you think campaign contributions should be secret?
What does “at the time very prominent” mean? Your garbled English is hard to understand.
And it will leave the law of the jungle in the hands of “We the People.”
Look at all off the enablets.supporting this piece of shit. How.many of you are registered.chomo’s
Thats kind of a hot mugshot I think Cole should switch out his FaceBook pic for it
And 3:17 is the comment that reminds me of how sad it is that Cole is hung out to dry in front of every jerk in Humboldt County. Like various people have said, he has not been found guilty. Can’t people wait for a trial before deciding that the young man deserves death?
The good news, anonymous 5:40, is that what some of these idiots think just doesn’t matter. There WILL be a trial, not a lynching, and there will be a legal verdict.
this is ridiculous: major criminal charges for looking at pictures…
anon at 5:29- If they are pornographic pictures of underage children? Damn right there should be major criminal charges. What part of “children are not to be messed with” do you not understand?
Demand creates supply, so the “consumers” of child porn need to be prosecuted at every opportunity.
However, the person who is the subject of this post is still innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Anon 5:29- Just hang yourself now.
I am so against the police raiding a home, confiscating personal home computers and seeing what a person downloaded. How many times have the cops done this recently? I don’t care what the person downloaded, the computer allows you to download anything with 2 clicks on your mouse. How can this NOT be communism??? This kid is 24, and now his life is ruined forever, because he clicked the wrong thing on his mouse, knowingly or not. I am so against this invasion of privacy. Even though it involves children, it is too easy for anyone to download. Computers should be made, that you CAN’T download pornography, period. The whole problem would be solved. Just because someone clicked their mouse and downloaded junk, does not mean they would ever think of touching a child and acting this out. I’m sick to death of these computer cases, where the cops bust down someones door, confiscate their computers, from their homes, and use it against them. These people are charged with all sorts of felonies and end up labeled a sex offender for life. Ridiculous.
Deja vue! I’m sure I’ve read that same exact delusional rant somewhere before.
“Fiola was fired and charged with possession of child pornography, which carries up to five years in prison. He endured death threats, his car tires were slashed and he was shunned by friends.
Fiola and his wife fought the case, spending $250,000 on legal fees. They liquidated their savings, took a second mortgage and sold their car.” The innocent must fight and fight to get their good name cleared. This poor young man has been vilified by this blog and the media.
I love how Cole and his friends here keep calling him a poor kid. The poor kid is almost 25 years old. Once he plea deals this down to a year in jail, 5 years probation and a lifetime on the sex offender list he will realize the error of his ways. Adults who prey on children are not accepted in society. Period. He can change his name but even that won’t help. They account for that on the sex offender registry. By now the cops are going to everyone he ever exchanged an email with. These type of incidents are never isolated. An uber liberal DA going after a local gay activist. You just know there is a bunch more going on. Should be interesting to watch.
Hey Dan, your ideas regarding personal privacy is fine and good, but the better solution to all this, is maybe to not browse kiddie porn, and not save that really “hot” 8 year old being exploited on the viewsonic.
Lets not forget that a “concerned citizen” aka family friend, or disgruntled boyfriend ratted him out. Which means he didn’t attempt to hide his kink too well.
Regardless, this little piggie brought all this on himself, and deserves everything that he’ll get in the end.. He’s a fairly cute little porker, I’m sure his fellow sisters in prison will make his visit to prison seem like a Hedonism resort. Hopefully he’ll be allowed to be bled out..
“deserves everything that he’ll get in the end..”
You don’t have a clue what he deserves, Chank. There has been no trial and he is innocent until proven guilty.
Oh dear Angel…. If he was taken down with child pornography on his computer, it’s a crime regardless however his fellow fruits may say it isn’t. And even tho child pornography isn’t the same as child molestation, it is the same as supporting it. So, my question here would be for you is.. Is child molestation ok? Is child pornography, or any activities supporting it fine as well?
Either you’re a chimo, or you aren’t. Which side of the line do you stand on? If you stand on the side that endorses the misuse and abuse of children, I’m pretty certain of what you would deserve as well.
I’m pretty certain the porn didn’t get on his computer with the help of a virus, maybe his boyfriend put it there? Nah… Let the investigation drag the truth into the light, there’s some things the gay mafia can’t cover up. Hopefully this won’t be one of those things.
“Which side of the line do you stand on?”
I stand on the side of justice. He’s innocent until proven guilty.
Can you imagine that idiot Chank being called for jury duty? He’d have to excuse himself from every case because of his assumption of guilty if charged! The fool just doesn’t understand the American justice system.
Study this, Chank: an accused is innocent until proven guilty. Repeat it over and over until you have it learned. Eventually even a dim bulb like you should be able to understand it.
Angel, there’s no need for name calling. You’re beginning to hurt my feelings.
I’ve sat on a few trials, and in each one of those trials, the accused was guilty. You fail to understand, his computer has the images in question on his computer. They cannot be considered “art”, and if he is not a forensic investigator, why would they be there? There is absolutely no legitimate reason to be in possession of these files.
How did they get there? I’m pretty certain the fairy godmother didn’t put them there. So thats where the courts come in. If the prosecuting team is worth their salt, they’ll find out how they got there. But I’ll stick with the tried and true method of fact finding. If it looks like $h1t, and smells like $h1t, I’ll be pretty certain it’s $h1t. I won’t be waiting for lab results to confirm that it is indeed $h1t.
When Cole is found guilty, will you be so quick to support the next pedo? I’m beginning to wonder what bad things might be found in your HD.. I’m thinking there may be a Pedo ring in our midst.
Bullshit. Cole Machado is innocent until proven guilty. Repeat that until you understand it, fool.
I guess I was told by a pedo supporter! I’ll take it for what it’s worth.. bwa ha ha
Folks, in the United States of America (Corrections officer)an individual is innocent until proven guilty. It’s in the constitution.
Second, Cole is not currently a member of the Humboldt Pride Board.
Third, if you truly are a corrections officer, you know that research shows that 90-98% of perpetrators are men, that 75% of the victims are girls and 25% are boys. Do you think that when the American Red Cross has a man who molests girls on their Board that somehow their message is suspect?
Okay, there is no porn on this computer, nor any in my household.
Second, child pornography is NOT A VICTIMLESS CRIME.
Young actors — phooey. In child pornography, a child is being raped, and that is immoral, disgusting, and criminal.
The law exists against child pornography because it recognizes that in child pornography, a trafficked
Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry and among the fastest growing criminal segments on the Internet. Producers of child pornography try to avoid prosecution by distributing their material across national borders, though this issue is increasingly being addressed with regular arrests of suspects from a number of countries occurring over the last few years. NCMEC claims that around 20 % of all pornography contains children.
Since 1999, the Interpol Standing Working Group on Offenses Against Minors has used the following definition:
You can understand these facts while still following that quaint old American custom – justice. You know the BILL OF RIGHTS.
Whoops, the definition is:
Child pornography is the consequence of the exploitation or sexual abuse perpetrated against a child. It can be defined as any means of depicting or promoting sexual abuse of a child, including print and/or audio, centered on sex acts or the genital organs of children.[13]
According to the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, “While impossible to obtain accurate data, a perusal of the child pornography readily available on the international market indicates that a significant number of children are being sexually exploited through this medium.”[32]
The United Kingdom Children’s charity NCH have stated that demand for child pornography on the internet has led to an increase in sex abuse cases, due to an increase in the number of children abused in the production process. In a study analyzing men arrested for child pornography possession in the United States over a one year period from 2000 to 2001, most had pornographic images of prepubescent children (83%) and images graphically depicting sexual penetration (80%). Approximately 1 in 5 (21%) had images depicting violence such as bondage, rape, or torture and most of those involved images of children who were gagged, bound, blindfolded, or otherwise enduring sadistic sex. More than 1 in 3 (39%) had child-pornography videos with motion and sound. 79% also had what might be termed softcore images of nude or semi-nude children, but only 1% possessed such images alone. Law enforcement found about half (48%) had more than 100 graphic still images, and 14% had 1,000 or more graphic images. Forty percent (40%) were “dual offenders,” who sexually victimized children and possessed child pornography.
Prison rape is wrong. No one deserves to be raped.
Gloating over the proposed sexual assault on a human being is absolutely and totally disgusting. SHAME!
“Folks, in the United States of America an individual is innocent until proven guilty. It’s in the constitution.”
That is correct, Susan. Cole Machado is innocent until proven guilty. He’s an American and that’s an American constitutional right.
Thank you for stepping in with some welcome sanity.
The recipe is for a painful suicide. Following his directions produces deadly nerve gas like the gas used in Europe during World War I. Chank is clearly a psychologically sick individual. Whatever else he may say doesn’t change that fact. He may drape himself with a cloak of righteousness, but it is only to camouflage the hatred he keeps red-hot in his heart.
“If he is guilty, he will be found guilty”
Oh, Chank, that’s deep. Still, at least you’re beginning to understand the justice system.
If he’s innocent, he will be found innocent. Until that time, he’s innocent anyway until proven guilty. That’s the American way.
It looks as if Chunk has been censored off this thread, so here are some departing words in his honor.
In the US the legal system is based on the government having to provide credable evidence to prove beyond a preponderance of the evidence that they person charged committed the crime. The accused is innocent until proven guilty.
Cole Machado is innocent because he has not been proven guilty.
Chank’s most recent post was removed. It enticed people into unwittingly committing suicide and it was removed by the blog owner.
For that, I thank Heraldo.
As to whether Chank should be permitted to post new messages here, I believe Chank crossed the line from opinion into illegality, and so should not be permitted to post messages here again.
That is my opinion, but Heraldo bears responsibility for such decisions, and I respect that.
Confused Chank based all his posts on emotion rather than reason. He also posted blatantly homophobic comments and inappropriately cruel remarks (i.e. “Hopefully (Cole) will be allowed to be bled out” by being knifed in prison.)
Finally, rattled Chank could not draw me into emotional tangents. I just stuck to the fact that one is innocent until proven guilty. That repeated and focused reasoning pushed him over the line and led to him posting a wildly inappropriate rant. He was unable to handle truth and reason.
I agree, Anonymous 10:39. This person should not be allowed to post on this thread again. He contributed nothing of any positive substance to this discussion.
Thank you, Heraldo, for removing his last and most inappropriate post.
Once again: the American constitution holds that one is innocent until proven guilty. Cole Machado has had no trial yet, so he is currently innocent of all unproven charges.
So Cole, how long will you be in jail?
I’m sorry to hear that, Cole. When will you know for certain?
Please delete the comment attributed to Cole Machado as it is someone impersonating him with false information.
The last three posts (and this one) should also be removed since they were responses to a fake posting. Please clean this up, Heraldo.
Rumor hazzit that charges will soon be dropped in the Machado case. Turns out those photos are not porno after all!
Whatever happened in this case? I see Cole is back on FB with an open profile. I don’t recall reading anything in the T/S about the sentencing or the DA’s office dropping the charges.
RUH ROH! Federal charges filed.
http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2011/jun/15/eureka-man-rearrested-federal-child-pornography-ch/
Cole Machado plead guilty to federal charges of producing child pornography yesterday.