Friday, December 15, 2017

FBI searching for information on Dr. Rosenschein's involvement with minors during years he practiced in Joplin

FBI investigators are looking for anyone who has information about former Joplin pediatric surgeon Guy Rosenschein's contact with minors during the time he was practicing in northwest Arkansas and that could be a concern for people in the Joplin area, since his Joplin practice was open during that same time.

It appears the FBI is attempting to find out if Rosenschein, who faces federal child pornography charges in New Mexico was involved in far worse crimes than those he is accused of committing.

According to an FBI news release, Rosenschein was a pediatric surgeon and pedriac urologist in northwest Arkansas between 2001 and 2012.

Rosenschein was scheduled to go to trial this month on the child pornography charges, but was given a continuance to continue preparing for a possible plea agreement, according to court documents.

The following news release was issued:

The Albuquerque Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking information from individuals who may have had contact with Dr. Guy Rosenschein in Arkansas.

Rosenschein, 64, of Albuquerque, N.M., worked in northwest Arkansas as a pediatric surgeon and pediatric urologist from approximately 2001 to 2012. Anyone with information regarding Rosenschein’s contact with minors should contact the Albuquerque Office of the FBI at (505) 889-1300.

On November 9, 2016, a federal criminal complaint alleged that Rosenschein possessed and distributed child pornography. According to the complaint, the investigation into Rosenschein was initiated in July 2016, when the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) identified a computer with an IP address, later determined to be registered to Rosenschein, allegedly used to distribute child pornography.

The complaint alleges that on November 8, 2016, a search warrant was executed at Rosenschein’s residence, and BCSO officers and detectives found that Rosenschein possessed a thumb drive containing child pornography. A federal grand jury later returned a three-count indictment, alleging that Dr. Rosenschein distributed child pornography on July 31 and August 8, 2016, and possessed a thumb drive containing child pornography.

The public is reminded that charges in an indictment are merely allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.


In court documents filed in November in U. S. District Court for New Mexico, the attorney for Guy Rosenschein spelled out the need for the delay, which was subsequently approved by the judge, but left some wiggle room in case Rosenschein changes his mind about a guilty plea.

Rosenschein has hired a computer forensic expert to review the government's evidence, according to the continuance motion, with the results of that investigation to determine which direction Rosenschein goes.

The charges against Rosenscheim were spelled out in the government's motion opposing his release on bond:

On July 21, 2016, and again on August 8, 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from “chatstep.com” indicating that a user identifying himself as “Carlo” had sent images of child pornography to another user. The IP address associated with the user “Carlo” originated from the Albuquerque area.

NCMEC forwarded this information to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office (BCSO) Detective Kyle Hartsock initiated a criminal investigation.

Detective Hartsock first reviewed the distributed files and confirmed that the images contained child pornography. Detective Hartsock observed that the image distributed on July 31, 2016, is a color image depicting a prepubescent boy laying on his stomach on a bed with a distinct patterned bedspread and pink/purple blanket. (The next two paragraphs describe photos of an adult and the boy engaged in anal sex.)

Detective Hartsock obtained a subpoena for the internet service provider associated with the IP address and learned that the account was registered to Defendant, a pediatric surgeon employed by Presbyterian Hospital.

On November 7, 2016, Detective Hartsock obtained a state search warrant for Defendant’s residence, which was executed the following day. During the execution of the search warrant, law enforcement located a 16-year-old boy (John Doe) inside Defendant’s bed wearing only underwear.

Defendant falsely identified John Doe as his nephew, but law enforcement later determined that John Doe was a former patient of Defendant’s.

The search of Defendant’s residence revealed numerous electronic devices that were seized for further analysis. The forensic analysis on most of the seized devices remains pending. Several of the devices are encrypted and will require further analysis in order to gain access. During the search law enforcement located a thumb drive attached to a keychain found in the ignition of Defendant’s vehicle, which was found to contain over one thousand images and videos of child pornography. This thumb drive is the subject of Count 3 of the indictment.

Defendant was first interviewed by Detective Kyle Hartsock during the execution of the search warrant and was later interviewed by FBI SA Marcus McCaskill. During his first interview, Defendant stated that John Doe was a former patient who stays with him from time to time. Defendant stated he owns two planes and a helicopter and has flown John Doe to several locations throughout the United States.

During his interview with SA McCaskill, Defendant admitted that he is sexually attracted to underage males “on occasion,” but has not had sexual contact with a minor since approximately 1994 in Paris.

When asked about chatstep.com, Defendant admitted that he has likely used the name “Carlo” in the past. Although he stated that he usually uses the name “Steve.” Defendant accepted responsibility for the thumb drive and stated that he obtained it in Europe several years ago. He stated that he had not looked at the thumb drive in approximately seven years, however the forensic data indicates that the files were accessed as recently as May 2016.

The complete forensic analysis of the seized thumb drive indicates that the device contained approximately 1,042 images and 78 videos of suspected child pornography. The initial file comparison from NCMEC indicates that Defendant possessed 41 files of previously identified children. Is it clear from the files contained on the thumb drive that the focus of the collection is prepubescent and pubescent minor males.

Following the execution of the first search warrant, federal law enforcement officers learned that Defendant’s home contained a “secret room” located inside the residence. This room was not discovered during the execution of the first search warrant.

Pursuant to a federal search warrant, agents re-entered Defendant’s residence and gained access to the room where they located two safes. Inside one of the safes, agents located five printed photographs depicting a dark-complected, possibly foreign-born, minor male child who was approximately 11 to 15 years of age based on body and pubic development.

Four of the photographs depicted the child nude in the shower. The time stamp on the back of the photo noted “Avril 94” (April 1994). Agents also located flight logs detailing an entry for travel to the Koh Kong province of Cambodia in March 1994.

An Apple iPhone3G was seized from Defendant’s office inside his residence. Defendant provided BCSO officials with the password to access this phone. The forensic analysis of the phone revealed a Yahoo Messenger account with the user name “cambodia1994.”

Hundreds of Yahoo chat messages were recovered from the phone, most of which focused on sexually explicit conversation. “Cambodia1994” primarily identified himself as “Steve” and claimed to be a teenage male living in the United States. “Steve” engaged in sexually explicit conversations with multiple users, often presenting himself as a minor working in a “club” and being forced to have sexual contact with adult males. “Steve” describes violent sexual experiences and how he is increasingly enjoying the contact.

(The next portions of the motion featured verbatim transcripts of the conversations.)

Law enforcement also seized an iPhone6 from Defendant’s residence. The forensic analysis of this phone revealed approximately one dozen photographs that appear to have been taken in a hospital or medical setting.

Investigators learned that it is against Presbyterian Hospital policy for physicians to take medical photographs on their personal phones. Several of the photographs depict close up views of genitalia.

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