Recent Macalester graduate Joshua Bertsch ’03 pled guilty on August 11 to 19 counts of child pornography possession and one count of child pornography distribution. District Judge Joanne Smith, who is in charge of the case, scheduled Bertsch’s sentencing hearing for September 30.

In making his plea, Bertsch, a native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, admitted to hosting and trading pictures and videos of illicit sex acts with minors. According to his police testimony, Bertsch had collected the illegal pornographic material for six years prior to his arrest on May 8 under the online alias, “didnthear.”

Bertsch was flagged as a suspect when an Internet Child Exploitation Task Force officer, operating out of Illinois, posed as a solicitor of child pornography, and elicited a number of images and files from Bertsch. The Illinois police task force traced Bertsch’s user account to Macalester and notified the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which communicated with the St. Paul Police.

St. Paul Police officers contacted the Assistant Director of Macalester’s Computer and Computer Information Technology (CIT) office, Geri Olson and presented a significant amount of pornographic evidence and proof that the material was obtained from the Macalester network.

Olson conferred with CIT Director and Vice President of Information Resources Joel Clemmer, who told his staff to cooperate with police and release the name of the student user.

“Macalester does not automatically give out information of users of the network, even if requested by the police,” Clemmber said, who strongly supports maximizing academic freedom and personal privacy on the Macalester network.

Clemmer said that he and the college will only reveal the identity of a network user if he is presented with a court order or evidence of clear violation of the law. Clemmer felt this case fell under the second such clause, and CIT and Campus Security fully cooperated with police and identified Bertsch as the owner of the online alias behind the hosting and trading of child pornography.

Campus security and St. Paul Police cooperated in Bertsch’s May 8 arrest. Director of Security Terry Gorman said that campus security allowed the police access to Bertsch’s residence in the Grand Cambridge Apartments. Just prior to the arrest, St. Paul police officers presented Gorman with a signed warrant that allowed police to enter Bertsch’s living space.

During the police search of Bertsch’s apartment, officers confiscated several computers and a variety of digital imaging and storage devices. The police verified that Bertsch's computer equipment contained thousands of images of minors involved in graphic sexual encounters.

Macalester’s administration remains protective of Bertsch’s privacy. According to a press release from Director of College Relations Doug Stone, the only information about Bertsch’s case that the college released publicly was a reaffirmation that Bertsch graduated and holds a Macalester degree despite his inability to walk the stage due to his arrest. The College also notified the public that administrators are looking into possible violations of CIT policy by Bertsch.

Bertsch cooperated fully during his arrest and subsequent investigation. He provided information at length about the methods and extent of his involvement in exchanging child pornography.

Bertsch’s attorney Cean Shands points out that none of the charges against Bertsch involve malicious contact with children. Bertsch has not been charged with trying to meet with any children or with creating any child pornography, for instance.

Shands, who worked with the Neighborhood Justice Center in St Paul, is a Macalester alumnus and met Bertsch through his ties to campus.

According to the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, only a handful of cases similar to Bertsch’s are tried in Minnesota each year. The low frequency of similar trials and the lack of a clear sentencing precedence foreshadows a tough battle between County Attorney Susan Gaertner and Bertsch’s defense.

Shands said he hopes Bertsch will only receive probation despite a maximum possible sentence of 102 years in prison. Shands said that even if Bertsch is sent to prison, it is unlikely that he would receive more than four years — far less than the maximum sentence.

Shands noted that precedence dictates that the crimes which Bertsch has committed have never been ranked as a “commit to prison case” in Minnesota, and offenders have consistently received probation. “Chances are, he's not going to prison,” Shands said.

According to Jack Rhodes, the Clerk of the County Attorney's office, the prosecution will seek a prison sentence, but they have not yet formulated a precise sentence request. Rhodes says that his office’s insistence that Bertsch receive a prison sentence stems from the graphic nature and overwhelming volume of the confiscated material.

Bertsch is currently participating in a pre-sentencing evaluation that consists of background checks and a psychosexual evaluation. The evaluation’s goal is to assess whether Bertsch is likely to directly participate in sexual crimes against youth.