Although the defendant is paralyzed from the chest down and relies on a wheelchair as well as human assistance several times a day, a federal judge ordered a Benton man to jail Friday for “blatantly flouting” an earlier order that permitted him to remain free, albeit on home detention, until his January trial.
“As much as I hate to burden the system, I am going to remand you to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere told Eric Bryan Ashley, who is accused of blackmailing a young girl into making pornographic videos for six years.
Typically, federal defendants such as Ashley who are charged with production of child pornography aren’t allowed to remain free until trial because of their potential danger to the community and the increased likelihood that they will flee. They face a minimum 15-year sentence without possibility for parole if convicted.
Ashley testified that upon his arrest in March on a federal criminal complaint, the Pulaski County jail refused to accept him because it couldn’t accommodate his motorized wheelchair. Federal marshals then placed him in a jail in Fordyce where, faced with only a concrete bed to sleep on, he opted to sleep in his wheelchair despite the danger that poses for developing pressure sores, he said.
Since U.S. MagistrateJudge Thomas Ray conditionally allowed Ashley’s pretrial release April 13 with the main condition that he remain on home detention except for a few pre-approved outings, he has been living with his girlfriend, Tracy Blake. She and Ashley’s sister agreed to jointly act as his third-party custodians to ensure that he complies with the conditions of his release.
Blake testified Friday that Ashley, who was paralyzed in a diving accident when he was 16, has several special needs. While Ashley’s sister is his primary caregiver, Blake said she often helps out and knows that he must sleep in a special bed, avoid staying in his wheelchair all day and be connected to a “urine bag” overnight.
In an attempt to explain the limitations of Ashley’s mobility, Blake testified that Ashley can hold a fork, and that if he uses both hands, he can write somewhat, but that he can only move his thumbs, not his fingers.
With those limitations, Blake said, there isn’t much for Ashley to do all day except watch movies, especially since she works away from home each weekday.
Watching movies led Deere to revoke Ashley’s supervised release.
Jordan Buescher, a U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services officer, testified that during unannounced visits to the home June 1 and June 12, he discovered an active Internet connection in violation of Ray’s condition that prohibits Ashley from being in a home where he can access the Internet.
Buescher said he confronted Ashley about the Internet connection, and Ashley replied that he didn’t realize he could actually connect to the Internet, although he did regularly watch movies via “streaming video,” which is accessed through the Internet.
Buescher said Ashley claimed to be unaware that his PlayStation 3 game system - which Ashley bought for the purpose of streaming movies while he was on home detention - had an Internet browser through which he could connect to the Internet.
The probation officer also testified that he saw an iPhone on the kitchen table with its screen still illuminated, indicating it had recently been used, and that he saw three bars indicating it was receiving a signal through which it was possible for Ashley to chat live with other users around the world.
The officer testified that he checked Blake’s home phone bill and discovered that she was still paying for Internet service to the house, despite her promise to Ray that she would cancel the service before Ashley was released into the home to serve his home detention.
Blake testified that the way she understood Ray’s order, she could have Internet access at home as long as it was password-protected, as her iPhone is. She said she had cleared the home of all computers to satisfy the court order.
Ashley testified that he believed probation officers had verified everything at the home was in compliance with court rules before he was released into Blake’s home. He noted that Blake was required to obtain a “land line” to connect monitoring equipment.
Asked about the access to the Internet that was possible through the PlayStation system, he said: “I didn’t know that. ... I thought I was complying.”
Ashley’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Latrece Gray, argued that “this whole incident is based on a misunderstanding” and that “there was no intentional violation” of the conditions of Ashley’s pretrial release. Besides, Gray argued, Ashley isn’t charged with downloading child pornography, but with producing videos with one “under-age minor.”
Ashley also faces charges in Cleburne County in connection with the girl’s report in March, when she was 17, that he had been forcing her to make pornographic videos and photographs since she was 12 years old, and sexually penetrating her with foreign objects under threat of exposing sexually explicit e-mails she had exchanged with another minor.
Deere said she didn’t believe the testimony Friday of either Ashley or Blake regarding their lack of familiarity with the Internet, noting that they were “pretending not to understand.”
She said Ray’s order was clear, the charges Ashley faces are “among the most serious a person can face,” and that he must be incarcerated to protect the community.
Deere said the court will “see to it” that he is housed in a federal medical facility that can accommodate his special needs.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 06/23/2012