Porn count unlikely in inquiry at agency

CHAD HAYWORTH
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green said Thursday that a former Fayetteville alderman will likely not face charges of child pornography.
Fayetteville police announced last week that they were investigating a Department of Human Services employee after child pornography was found on a computer in the agency's Bentonville office. While police didn't name a suspect in the case, Randy Zurcher released a statement denying any wrongdoing shortly after the police announcement.
"I'm not aware of any true child pornography on the computer," Green said. "The computer has been sent to the Arkansas State Police in Little Rock for further testing by technicians there."
Green said that she has seen only two images, neither of which constitutes child pornography, from the computer.
"They certainly are a cause for concern that there could be child porn on the computer," Green said. "The females depicted are not engaged in sexual behavior."
The females, who appear to be teen-agers, are partially clothed in the images, Green said.
Zurcher was a Fayetteville alderman from January 1997 to August 1998, and he plans to run again in November. He has not been arrested in the case.
Zurcher seemed pleased by Green's announcement Thursday night.
"That is very good news," Zurcher said when reached by phone at his home. "But I'd rather not comment until the whole deal is done."
Zurcher, 30, began work at the Bentonville office of the Human Services Department in March 1999 and was later transferred to the Fayetteville office, Joe Quinn, a spokesman for the department, said last week. Zurcher's job is to investigate complaints of mistreatment of the elderly and the disabled. He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave from the state agency.
The pornographic material was discovered when Zurcher switched offices, Quinn said. The employee who took his place was having trouble getting her e-mail, so a computer technician was called in, Quinn said. The technician found the questionable images, according to an affidavit filed by Fayetteville police last week.
The images were copied onto a disk and deleted from the computer by Zurcher's supervisor. The supervisor told police that Zurcher said he had looked at pornographic Web sites while at work. The information was turned over to the FBI, which later called in the Fayetteville police. Fayetteville police have since given the case to the Arkansas State Police.
Green said she decided to make the announcement because it could be weeks before the computers are analyzed by state police technicians.
"We don't normally comment on ongoing investigations," she said, "but given the amount of time it's going to take the state police and the brevity of the allegations, I've decided to go ahead and make this statement."
Green said she would review any evidence recovered from the computer before making a decision in the case.
Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Terry Jones said last week that he doesn't plan to file charges against Zurcher, either. Files on the computer Zurcher used at his Fayetteville office indicate that someone visited Web sites where child pornography is available, but there is no way to tell if anything was accessed or downloaded, Jones said.

This article was published on Friday, August 11, 2000

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