Earlier this week, I reported on what seemed a first -- the feds ordered a convicted child molester to sell his house. After talking with Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and reviewing the court documents, the feds had actually seized the suspect's property and are in the process of selling it (the house is at left, from www.estately.com.
And it is indeed a new program that Rosenstein told me he hopes will send a message. In this case, a 72-year-old man not only goes to federal prison for 20 years, he lost his home. Rosenstein is reserving this tactic for the worst of the worst -- people who actually abuse children in their homes. The vast majority of suspects in these cases download images from the Internet.
This man, George K. Hayward, not only viewed the pics, he had children -- in this case a 5-year-old girl he had been babysitting -- act out scenes from the pics. His house on Monica Circle in Kingsville, in Harford County, is assessed at more than $472,000. The realty company is asking $289,500. But the agent told me that both figures are too high and the house is going to the auction block.