Messages sent to defense attorney Jason Luczak requesting information about what new plea Bebris plans to enter weren’t returned. He had pleaded not guilty earlier to charges.
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Bebris’ legal troubles began when Facebook discovered that Bebris uploaded a couple of child pornography images onto Facebook Messenger in September 2018, according to a court document filed by prosecutors.
“Facebook relayed that information to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which then sent it to local law enforcement in Wisconsin,” the document says.
The discovery led police to obtain a search warrant and raid his home, where more child pornography was allegedly found, the document says. Other court documents previously obtained by the Dayton Daily News say the images were of boys and girls between the ages of 1 and 10, some engaging in sexual activity, along with some bestiality.
The choice to change the plea comes on the heels of a court ruling denying a defense attempt to suppress evidence in the case. Prosecutors and defense participated in a months-long court battle over whether Facebook and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children acted legally.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach wrote in his decision that Bebris didn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the Facebook messages he allegedly sent containing child pornography. The judge wrote that Facebook community standards and terms of service says that it reports child exploitation when the company becomes aware of potential violations.
“In the face of these disclosures, any expectation of privacy Bebris had with respect to child pornography uploaded via his Facebook Messenger account would be objectively unreasonable,” the judge wrote.
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The defense in their arguments said Facebook acted as a government agent when it searched Bebris’ messages. The judge disagreed in his order, saying the company instead is a private organization with strong moral and business reasons to prevent child pornography on its site.
“I further conclude from the evidence before me that Facebook was not acting as an agent … of the government when it sent the CyberTipline reports to NCMEC identifying child pornography uploaded by Bebris’ account via Facebook Messenger,” the judge wrote. “And because Facebook acted independently, the court need not decide whether NCMEC is an agent of the government. Both because Bebris had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the child pornography depictions unloaded on his account and because Facebook was not acting as an agent of the government, his motion to suppress is denied.”
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