Man Gets 7 Years In Child Porn Case

A former Arlington County youth sports coach and civil rights lawyer who once headed Virginia's American Civil Liberties Union chapter was sentenced yesterday to seven years in federal prison for buying child pornography that prosecutors labeled sadistic and masochistic.

Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, pleaded guilty in June to downloading hundreds of pornographic images of children as young as 4. Authorities said he used a computer in his 11-year-old son's bedroom to view the files, which included a six-minute video that depicted sexual torture of children, set to a song by the rock band Nine Inch Nails.

Rust-Tierney, a divorced father of two boys, read tearfully from a statement before Judge T.S. Ellis III handed down the sentence in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

"I stand before you with contrition, remorse and shame," Rust-Tierney said, adding that he considered his conduct "reprehensible" and "unconscionable."

Prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison term. Defense attorneys suggested five years.

"The child pornography you purchased was of the most abhorrent kind," Ellis said. " . . . I don't think five years is enough."

Rust-Tierney was president of the ACLU's Virginia affiliate from 1993 to 2005. He had coached youth baseball, soccer and football teams since 2003, according to law enforcement officials. He once served as president of Arlington Little League. Until his arrest, he had worked for 17 years as a public defender, representing mentally ill clients in the District.

"Your life really presents a mystery as to why there are two -- two -- Mr. Tierneys," Ellis said. "Charles Tierney, the one who devoted his life to good works . . . [and] the other Charles Tierney who committed serious crimes."

Several dozen supporters, including members of the legal community and parents of children he once coached, turned out for the hearing. Many sobbed as Rust-Tierney addressed the judge, saying he downloaded child porn to escape "despair" in his personal life.

Ellis didn't buy that explanation.

"You bought this child pornography [because] you liked to watch it," Ellis said. " . . . It is an appetite you need to address."

Ellis said authorities determined through an investigation that Rust-Tierney had not attempted to have any sexual contact with children. But he added there was no guarantee that Rust-Tierney would not attempt such contacts in the future.

Rust-Tierney was arrested Feb. 23 after his Arlington home was searched by officers from Arlington police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The raid was part of a nationwide initiative -- Project Safe Childhood -- that was created in February 2006 by U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Authorities said Rust-Tierney used his home computer to purchase Internet access to commercial child pornography Web sites at least five times between March 2005 and October 2006, spending about $420. During one two-week span, he accessed more than 850 digital image and video files of child pornography on one site.

Some of these files showed girls under the age of 12 being forced to engage in sexual acts with adult males. Others showed children who were hung from the wrists.

Ellis said Rust-Tierney will be monitored for 10 years after his release from a minimum-security prison. He will not be allowed to take a paid or volunteer job involving supervision of children or have any unsupervised contact with minors during those 10 years. And he will be required to register as a sex offender.

"I tell all defendants that life is composed of making choices and living with those consequences," Ellis said. "You made a very bad choice over a very long time."

Standing at a podium and leaning into the microphone, the bearded, sandy-haired defendant told Ellis that one of the "harshest parts" of this ordeal was the effect it will have on his family.

"All of this pain and ugliness is part of the future I will give my two sons," Rust-Tierney said. His older son is 17.

Near the end of the hearing, Ellis posed a question.

"What's the most important thing to you in your life, Mr. Tierney?" he asked.

"My children," Rust-Tierney said.

"You can't consume child pornography and be a good parent," Ellis said.

Rust-Tierney quickly responded, "Of course not, your honor."