The child-pornography charges against two men are headed to the grand jury.
ACCUSED OF producing and distributing child pornography are George Paul Bishop, 46, of 4156 Pleasant Meadow Court in Chantilly and Richard Wendall Evans, 66, of 4327 Ravensworth Road, No. 323, in Annandale. Fairfax County police arrested them Jan. 28, and now their cases are moving forward in the legal system.
Police Det. Peter Charles, of the Child Services Section, presented details of their alleged crimes in Jan. 7 and Jan. 19 affidavits for search warrants to seek evidence in their homes. In the first document, Charles stated that illegalities were allegedly occurring at Bishop's Rockland Village home between July and October 2004.
He said he'd obtained his information, Dec. 20, from a now 17-year-old boy — who Charles called "Victim One" — who'd frequented Bishop's home. "Victim One attends a high school in Fairfax County," wrote the detective. "After school, [he] and other students go to [Bishop's address] to drink alcohol and ingest illegal narcotics."
The teen called Bishop "Paul" and reportedly told the detective that he and the other teens had been to Bishop's home — he lives on the lower level of a townhouse — about 50 times.
Furthermore, wrote Charles, according to Victim One, Paul had, on occasion, "videotaped and photographed the juveniles in his residence. Victim One remembers seeing one of these pictures used as a screen saver on Paul's personal computer."
In the Jan. 19 affidavit, Charles noted that, among items seized by police, Jan. 7, at Bishop's home were computer hard drives, pictures and videotapes. "On these videotapes are images of naked individuals — one of which appeared to be underage," wrote the detective. "The acts depicted on these videotapes by this juvenile include posing naked and being fondled and dressed in bondage apparel by two adult males."
He stated it was a VHS tape and was "clearly labeled 'Paul's'. One of these individuals in the tape is [allegedly] identified as Bishop." Charles wrote that Evans was reportedly the other adult on that tape.
HE ALSO NOTED that, on Jan. 18, the teen-ager depicted on the tape was positively identified as Victim One — who, say police, was 16 when he was filmed. During an interview with himself and other detectives, wrote Charles, "Victim One admitted to being naked in the pictures and in the video. [He] remembers Bishop [allegedly] filming him naked as he was being dressed in bondage apparel."
According to the affidavit, an older white male who was approximately 60 years old, bald and had a long white beard was on the video. "Victim One identified [him] as 'Rick from Annandale,'" wrote Charles. "Furthermore, [he] stated that the scene was [reportedly] videotaped at 'Rick's apartment.' Victim One stated that the video camera and bondage apparel were at Rick's when he arrived there with Bishop. [He] estimated the date of this recording to be in fall 2004."
Charles noted, as well, that Evans' driver's license photo reportedly "matches the other male in the seized videotape." Therefore, he concluded, "It is evident that both Bishop and Evans were complicit in manufacturing an illicit video depicting a juvenile in a sexual manner." And, he added, "The evidence seized in the search at Bishop's residence on Jan. 7, and Victim One's statements, relate to the elements of the offense of possession of child pornography."
Both Bishop and Evans appeared last Friday, April 1, in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court before Judge Charles Maxfield. At that time, five counts of possession of child pornography against Bishop were dropped, and one was certified to the grand jury for possible indictment — as were two counts of manufacturing child pornography. As for Evans, his two charges of manufacturing child pornography were also sent to the grand jury.