Tulsa, Oklahoma - Child Pornography Fugitive Arrested
By David Harper, World Staff Writer
11/17/2006
The child pornography suspect was carrying a gun and cash, police say.
A Tulsa man facing a child pornography charge and a child molestation investigation was captured Thursday at a Bixby movie theater after he missed a court appearance Wednesday.
Bixby Police Capt. James Kite said officers arrested David A. Abston, 55, about 3:45 p.m. at Dickinson Theaters Starworld 20, 10301 S. Memorial Drive.
Kite said Abston was carrying a loaded gun, a check for $23,000 for a vehicle he evidently had just sold and a large amount of cash.
He said the money -- the amount of which he didn't know -- was turned over to the FBI.
Personnel at the theater recognized Abston, the owner of a Broken Arrow skating rink, and notified police, Kite said.
A theater employee, Deidra Sippy, 19, of Broken Arrow, said she saw a man wearing a ball cap and sunglasses enter the theater, acting as if he didn't want to be recognized.
Sippy said she eventually recognized the man, not only from a news report, but also because she used to skate at the rink Abston owns. She had also seen Abston at the theater before, she said.
"I couldn't believe he would show up there because someone might recognize him -- which is what happened," Sippy said.
Kite said three Bixby police officers arrested Abston while he was taking a restroom break at the theater during a showing of the Russell Crowe romantic comedy "A Good Year."
Abston did not resist arrest or reach for his gun, but he initially gave his name as "Bill Jones" or "Bill Davis" and said he wanted to get identification from a vehicle outside the theater, Kite said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Morgan said Wednesday that Abston might have been motivated to flee after hearing that the prosecution was going to seek to have him jailed while the federal case against him is pending.
U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy issued an arrest warrant about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday after Abston did not appear for his 2 p.m. arraignment on the charge, which alleges that Abston distributed three images of child pornography by computer Sept. 8.
Abston -- a former Muskogee police officer -- is also under investigation on allegations that he molested young boys he had met at his skating rink, Roller City, authorities say.
No molestation charges had been filed against Abston as of Thursday, but Broken Arrow and Tulsa police, the FBI and other investigators are looking into allegations that he molested at least four boys at his home.
Police also have received calls from parents who are worried about their children's interactions with Abston at the skating rink.
The investigation began when an employee of the rink called police to relate concerns about things the employee had seen there.
A document filed Wednesday in federal court shows that officers found sex toys, condoms, six DVDs labeled as pornography, five "nudist magazines" and a computer Nov. 8 during a search of Abston's home in the 9300 block of South College Avenue.
A court document says an FBI agent in Miami, Fla., noticed Sept. 8 that one "P2P" (peer-to-peer file-sharing technology) user was offering several files for download.
The user's Internet protocol address was traced to Abston, the document says.
At least three of the files traced to Abston contained images of child pornography, the affidavit says.
Abston, who apparently has owned Roller City for about a year and a half, has been in the process of selling it to an Owasso businessman during the past month.
Abston's attorney, Keith Ward, said Thursday evening that he didn't know what inspired Abston to go to the movie theater while a heavily publicized search for him was under way.
"My belief is that he was not fleeing," said Ward, who had not talked with Abston since the arrest. "I think he was scared and didn't know what to do. Fear causes people to do silly things."
At least two men who were charged in Tulsa federal court with child pornography offenses have committed suicide in recent years -- one just last month -- and Ward said his "most immediate concern was that he (Abston) was at risk to hurt himself."
David Harper 581-8359, david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Copyright © 2006, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
11/17/2006
The child pornography suspect was carrying a gun and cash, police say.
A Tulsa man facing a child pornography charge and a child molestation investigation was captured Thursday at a Bixby movie theater after he missed a court appearance Wednesday.
Bixby Police Capt. James Kite said officers arrested David A. Abston, 55, about 3:45 p.m. at Dickinson Theaters Starworld 20, 10301 S. Memorial Drive.
Kite said Abston was carrying a loaded gun, a check for $23,000 for a vehicle he evidently had just sold and a large amount of cash.
He said the money -- the amount of which he didn't know -- was turned over to the FBI.
Personnel at the theater recognized Abston, the owner of a Broken Arrow skating rink, and notified police, Kite said.
A theater employee, Deidra Sippy, 19, of Broken Arrow, said she saw a man wearing a ball cap and sunglasses enter the theater, acting as if he didn't want to be recognized.
Sippy said she eventually recognized the man, not only from a news report, but also because she used to skate at the rink Abston owns. She had also seen Abston at the theater before, she said.
"I couldn't believe he would show up there because someone might recognize him -- which is what happened," Sippy said.
Kite said three Bixby police officers arrested Abston while he was taking a restroom break at the theater during a showing of the Russell Crowe romantic comedy "A Good Year."
Abston did not resist arrest or reach for his gun, but he initially gave his name as "Bill Jones" or "Bill Davis" and said he wanted to get identification from a vehicle outside the theater, Kite said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Morgan said Wednesday that Abston might have been motivated to flee after hearing that the prosecution was going to seek to have him jailed while the federal case against him is pending.
U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy issued an arrest warrant about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday after Abston did not appear for his 2 p.m. arraignment on the charge, which alleges that Abston distributed three images of child pornography by computer Sept. 8.
Abston -- a former Muskogee police officer -- is also under investigation on allegations that he molested young boys he had met at his skating rink, Roller City, authorities say.
No molestation charges had been filed against Abston as of Thursday, but Broken Arrow and Tulsa police, the FBI and other investigators are looking into allegations that he molested at least four boys at his home.
Police also have received calls from parents who are worried about their children's interactions with Abston at the skating rink.
The investigation began when an employee of the rink called police to relate concerns about things the employee had seen there.
A document filed Wednesday in federal court shows that officers found sex toys, condoms, six DVDs labeled as pornography, five "nudist magazines" and a computer Nov. 8 during a search of Abston's home in the 9300 block of South College Avenue.
A court document says an FBI agent in Miami, Fla., noticed Sept. 8 that one "P2P" (peer-to-peer file-sharing technology) user was offering several files for download.
The user's Internet protocol address was traced to Abston, the document says.
At least three of the files traced to Abston contained images of child pornography, the affidavit says.
Abston, who apparently has owned Roller City for about a year and a half, has been in the process of selling it to an Owasso businessman during the past month.
Abston's attorney, Keith Ward, said Thursday evening that he didn't know what inspired Abston to go to the movie theater while a heavily publicized search for him was under way.
"My belief is that he was not fleeing," said Ward, who had not talked with Abston since the arrest. "I think he was scared and didn't know what to do. Fear causes people to do silly things."
At least two men who were charged in Tulsa federal court with child pornography offenses have committed suicide in recent years -- one just last month -- and Ward said his "most immediate concern was that he (Abston) was at risk to hurt himself."
David Harper 581-8359, david.harper@tulsaworld.com
Copyright © 2006, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.