Crime, Deaths, Kids, Law Schools, Police, Pornography, Prisons, Violence

Hacksaw McDaniel Accused of Child Pornography Possession

Things just got a lot more complicated for Stephen McDaniel, the 25-year-old Mercer Law School graduate accused of killing his former neighbor and classmate, Lauren Giddings. McDaniel has now been hit with seven charges of sexual exploitation of children. So even if McDaniel is cleared of the Giddings murder, he's still looking at a whole host of other allegations....

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Things just got a lot more complicated for Stephen McDaniel, the 25-year-old Mercer Law School graduate accused of killing his former neighbor and classmate, Lauren Giddings. As we mentioned last night, McDaniel has been hit with seven charges of sexual exploitation of children.

So even if McDaniel is cleared of the Giddings murder, he’s still looking at a whole host of other allegations. As you may recall, what originally landed him in the Bibb County jail were two counts of burglary (namely, filching condoms from other apartments at the Barristers Hall complex). Now he stands accused of child pornography possession, facing possible exposure of five to 20 years in prison on each charge.

At the time we originally mentioned the kiddie porn charges yesterday, we didn’t have the dirty details. Now we do.

If you have the stomach for it, keep on reading….

The specifics are set forth in arrest warrants issued yesterday against McDaniel. They all cite the same statutory offense, sexual exploitation of children (O.C.G.A. 16-12-100(b)(8)), and they all relate to digital images allegedly found “on a white 1GB flash drive attached to a black and orange Mercer lanyard found in the apartment of [McDaniel] pursuant to the execution of a search warrant.”

In terms of what the images depict, the Macon Telegraph states that they “show various sex acts involving adults and prepubescent boys and girls, and some involve intercourse.” If you’re dying to know who was doing what to whom, read the underlying warrants. It sounds like pretty sick stuff.

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The Telegraph sought reactions from Giddings and McDaniel family members:

“This is disturbing,” Giddings’ sister, Kaitlyn Wheeler, said when reached by phone Tuesday.

Giddings’ father, Bill, called the development “another bizarre twist” in the case against McDaniel, who lived next door to Lauren Giddings.

“I’m wondering what his parents are thinking,” Bill Giddings said in a telephone interview.

We are too. Well, keep wondering:

McDaniel’s mother, Glenda, who has in recent weeks repeatedly proclaimed her 25-year-old son’s innocence to The Telegraph, did not return numerous messages asking for comment.

I think Glenda McDaniel is too busy PRAAAYING to come to the phone.

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McDaniel’s attorney, Floyd Buford, didn’t have much to say either. He told the Telegraph that he hasn’t had the chance to discuss the charges with his client and that the child porn accusations have “no relation whatsoever to the Giddings murder case.”

That might be true in a technical sense — e.g., evidence of the child pornography claims might not be admissible at a murder trial for McDaniel. But these latest charges certainly do make the rather eccentric McDaniel look like more and more of a sicko. And that can’t help McDaniel in the court of public opinion.

Relatives of Lauren Giddings seem to believe that McDaniel is guilty. As her father Bill Giddings said yesterday, the latest charges “make[] me wonder where this is heading, and how far it is we’ve got to go until [McDaniel] comes clean.”

Well, let’s not forget: Stephen McDaniel is presumed innocent until proven guilty. As for the child pornography images apparently found on McDaniel’s flash drive, we direct you to this theory: maybe the kiddie porn belongs to that “maintenance man.”

Right?

Child porn charges for McDaniel [Macon Telegraph]
Arrest Warrant for Stephen Mark McDaniel [Bibb County Superior Court via Macon Telegraph]

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