Dover – A proactive undercover online investigation by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force into the distribution of child pornography has led to the arrest of a Dover man, Attorney General Beau Biden announced today.

“Our Child Predator Task Force continues to search out and track down dangerous individuals who trade in child pornography and threaten our children,” Biden said.

As a result of the investigation, detectives from the Child Predator Task Force and Troopers from Delaware State Police Troop #3 executed a search warrant yesterday at a residence located in the 600 block of Deer Track Road, Dover. During the search multiple computers and external storage devices, along with several additional digital media devices were seized, and a resident of the address was developed as a person of interest and taken to DSP Troop #3 for further investigation. A forensic preview of the evidence revealed multiple files of child pornography on a computer owned by the person of interest.

As a result of the investigation detectives yesterday arrested the person of interest, 24 year-old Benjamin L. Byler, and charged him with 25 counts of Dealing in Child Pornography. Byler was arraigned via videophone by JP Court #2 and was taken to James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in lieu of $500,000 secured bail.

The Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigation continues. A booking image of Byler is below.

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Wilmington – Today, David Salasky was sentenced to life in prison for the September 2011 death of New Castle County Police officer Joseph Szczerba.

“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with Lt. Szczerba, his wife and family – as they have been every day since this senseless murder,” Attorney General Beau Biden said. “Today’s sentence reflects not only how seriously our society takes crimes committed against police officers; they also highlight the incredible daily sacrifice that police officers and their families make to keep us safe.”

On September 16, 2011, after responding to a report of a theft from a motor vehicle and disorderly person in New Castle, Lt. Szczerba observed and approached David Salasky, a subject who matched the suspect description. A foot pursuit ensued and resulted in a struggle, during which Sgt. Szczerba suffered fatal stab wounds. Salasky continued to actively resist by fighting other officers, two of whom sustained injuries.

Salasky, age 34, was indicted by the New Castle County Grand Jury on multiple counts of murder, burglary, weapons, and assault charges in December 2011. On September 30, 2013, Salasky pled Guilty but Mentally Ill to 15 felony charges, including 2 counts of Murder 1st Degree for the death of Sgt. Szczerba, along with 4 counts of Possession of Deadly Weapon During Commission of Felony, 2 counts of Possession of a Deadly Weapon by Person Prohibited, 1 count of Resisting Arrest, 1 count of Attempted Robbery 1st Degree, 1 count of Assault 2nd Degree, and 4 counts of Burglary 3rd Degree. Delaware law requires that the Judge make an independent determination that Salasky was mentally ill at the time of the crime before imposting sentence, and at a hearing this morning Superior Court Judge William C. Carpenter, Jr. found based on substantial medical documentation that Salasky suffered from sustained mental illness. Judge Carpenter subsequently sentenced Salasky to the maximum sentence under the law: 2 life prison terms without the possibility of parole, plus 157 additional years in prison.

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Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that ongoing Delaware Child Predator Task Force investigations into the possession and distribution of child pornography have led to the arrest of two Delaware men on rape charges.

“These arrests demonstrate that those who possess child pornography and have access to kids pose an increased threat of sexual offenses against children,” Biden said, “These cases underscore how important the work of the Child Predator Task Force is to taking sexual predators off the streets and keeping our kids safe.”

On January 6, 2014, Terry C. Adgate, age 65, was arrested for three counts of unlawful sexual penetration 3rd degree and one count of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse 2nd degree. Adgate was initially the subject of a Child Predator Task Force investigation into the possession of child pornography, and that investigation led to his August, 2012 arrest on multiple counts of dealing in child pornography. Adgate, who has remained incarcerated since his August, 2012 arrest, pled guilty to three counts of dealing child pornography and was sentenced in November, 2013 to 5 years in prison. Shortly before his sentencing on pornography charges an adult victim was discovered who reported to Task Force Detectives that Adgate sexually assaulted her when she was a child over a period of several years during the 1990s. Adgate resided on the 900 block of Saltere Road in Clayton, Delaware from approximately 1985 until his 2012 arrest, and previously resided in New Castle County from approximately 1968 until 1985. Detectives are urging anyone with information that may assist investigators in determining whether Adgate committed additional crimes during that time to contact Detective Kevin McKay at the Delaware Child Predator Task Force at 302-741-2775.

Last week’s arrest follows the January 1, 2014 arrest of Charles H. Hurd, Jr., age 48, for three counts of unlawful sexual contact with a child. The charges stemmed from an ongoing Child Predator Task Force investigation into the distribution of child pornography that resulted in his June, 2013 arrest on 25 counts of dealing in child pornography. Hurd has remained incarcerated since his June, 2013 arrest and awaits trial on those charges. The ongoing investigation revealed evidence that Hurd sexually assaulted an 11 year old female on multiple occasions in 2013 at his residence in the 800 Block of Woodline Drive in Middletown, resulting in his January 1 arrest on the additional charges. Detectives urge anyone with any information that may assist the ongoing investigation to contact Investigator Dennis Campbell of the Child Predator Task Force at 302-741-2769.

Booking images of Terry Adgate and Charles Hurd, Jr. are below.

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Striking down prosecution of individual who falsified background check information would weaken efforts to keep guns away from criminals and other prohibited persons

WILMINGTON – Attorney General Beau Biden and a coalition of nine other attorneys general have a filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States supporting a federal prosecution under a key component of the law that requires buyers of firearms to accurately disclose their identities when undergoing a background check.

The brief was filed in the case of Abramski v. United States, in which a Virginia man is challenging his conviction under a federal law after he purchased a weapon for a relative, but claimed the gun was for himself. Federal law requires that firearms purchaser provide accurate and truthful information when they fill out paperwork to undergo the background checks required under federal law.  Abramski is challenging his conviction because the relative he bought the weapon for was allowed to have a weapon under federal law. Biden and his colleagues argue that striking down the conviction would “gut” federal and state laws aimed stopped what are known as “straw purchases” — an individual claiming to be the person buying a weapon and then giving it over to another individual who in reality is the true owner.

“The federal background check system has made us safer by stopping more than 2 million criminals and other dangerous individuals from buying guns,” Biden said. “In Delaware, we enhanced our background check law last year by requiring checks for most private firearms transactions. A key component of the federal background check law is the requirement that the potential buyers properly identify themselves. Removing that requirement will weaken the background check system and make it easier for criminals to buy weapons.”

Biden and his fellow Attorneys General argue that weakening laws against straw purchases will make it easier for criminals and other persons prohibited from possessing weapons under federal and state laws to get around background check requirements and obtain guns.

“Even now, straw purchases are frequently used to circumvent the federal requirements,” the Attorneys General wrote in their brief. “Some straw purchasers conceal an actual buyer who is ineligible to possess a gun, of course, but others conceal actual buyers who wish to withhold their identities for other reasons – to obscure a high volume of gun purchases, for example, or to avoid being traced to the gun after it is used in a planned crime. If federal law prohibiting false statements in purchases from federally licensed dealers is rolled back to permit a straw purchases to conceal the true nature of the sale, would-be criminals will be able to acquire and transport untraceable firearms across state lines with relative ease, defeating (states’) efforts to reduce gun violence.”

Biden was joined by the Attorneys General of Hawaii, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Oregon, and the District of Columbia.

In Delaware last year, legislation supported by Biden sought to further clamp down on straw purchases by requiring the timely reporting to law enforcement of lost and stolen firearms. The law targets individuals who lawfully purchase a weapon but then give it to a criminal or other prohibited person, and then claim the weapon was lost or stolen when questioned by police.

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Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden’s office announced today that it has secured a 25-count indictment charging Christopher Wheeler with Dealing in Child Pornography.  The indictment, secured yesterday from the New Castle County Grand Jury, follows Wheeler’s November 1 arrest on the same charges after detectives from the Delaware Child Predator Task Force recovered multiple images of child pornography on computers seized by investigators during an October 22 search of Wheeler’s Wilmington home and office.

Wheeler remains incarcerated pending trial in lieu of $1.5 million cash bail.

The Delaware Department of Justice reminds the public that an indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a jury trial at which the State bears the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

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