When accused of arson, it's probably best not to arrive in court with a can of gasoline and a book of matches. Similarly, defense attorneys might advise a client charged with child abuse to maybe leave the Lewis Carroll collection outside the courtroom. Not that anybody's ever proven that Carroll was guilty of anything, but the author's habit of photographing pre-pubescent girls in the semi-nude makes you wonder. Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, photography also factors into the case of Staten Island's Francesco Zaffuto, 19, who reportedly came to court yesterday with a copy of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.
Zaffuto was hit with a 104-count indictment for an alleged sexual assault against an 8-year-old autistic boy at a Staten Island Catholic summer camp in 2008. Among the most serious charges are three counts of first-degree criminal sex act, and the Staten Island Advance reports that, ugh, the alleged victim was unable to verbally communicate the abuse due to his condition. But the Staten Island DA is in possession of incriminating photos Zaffuto allegedly took with his mother's iPhone and uploaded to his computer. Prosecutors say they were able to use geo-coding to deduce that the photos were taken in a bathroom during camp.
Zaffuto has allegedly uploaded more than 2,000 photos to the blogging hub ning.com. "He took trophy photos of these illegal acts and kept them on his personal computer for 2 1/2 years," says Assistant District Attorney Yolanda L. Rudich. He was ordered held on $750,000 bail.
