Genesee County Sheriff Department
Press Releases
and News Flashes
Pickell
describes "very, very graphic" child porn of suspect in sweeping case
Kim Crawford | The
Flint Journal November 13, 2007 12:12PM
Categories: Breaking News,
Burton,
Courts, Crime, Vienna
Twp.
A
33-year-old man was moving from Vienna Township to Burton early this month when
a relative allegedly discovered a sample of his child porn, Genesee County
Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said today.
That
discovery led investigators to 75 VHS tapes and over 200 DVDs and other
evidence suggesting the suspect, Kevin T. Odette, probably victimized scores of
children and teenagers over the past 20-some years.
"This
guy's child porn is very, very graphic," the sheriff said.
"Hard-bitten investigators who have seen everything couldn't even watch
it."
Between the evidence seized by sheriff's
department investigators and statements given by some of the alleged victims,
the sheriff said, the suspect may have molested as many as 75 victims from
Gaylord and Lansing to around the Flint area.
Odette
was arraigned Friday on what Pickell said was the first five cases of criminal
sexual conduct and making child pornography involving children between 7-13
years old who were related to Odette. He's being held in the Genseee County
Jail on bonds of $1.6 million.
In
those cases alone, the suspect -- described as a former grocery store employee
who is married and has a stepdaughter -- faces numerous counts of first-degree
criminal sexual conduct, child sexually abusive activity, and use of a computer
to commit a crime. The criminal sexual conducts charges alone are punishable by
up to life in prison.
But
many more cases could be coming and Pickell said his investigators are working
with the FBI and other Michigan departments to identify the children and teens
who appear in child porn seized from the suspect.
Pickell
said the case against Odette began to unfold on Nov. 5 in Burton when the man
was in the process of moving from the South Creek Village Mobile Home Park in
Vienna Township to a new address in Burton.
A
person described as a sister-in-law called the sheriff's department when she
found a recording belonging to Odette. That led investigators to a search in
which two computers, several cameras and nearly 300 DVDs and VHS tapes and
other evidence was seized, including what Pickell described as a sexually
explicit diary of Odette's going back to 1996.
"An
FBI agent who views this kind of child porn on a daily basis said that this was
some of the most graphic she's ever seen," Pickell said.
The
sheriff asked that anyone who may have been victimized by Odette or believes
their children were molested or recorded by him to call the sheriff's
department at (810) 257-3407.
Sgt.
Joe Parks, one of the investigating officers, also asked for the public's help
in identifying a man who apparently helped Odette record the sex acts with
children and teens.
Pickell
said that Odette grew up in the Gaylord area and allegedly began to molest
young children when he was as young as 10 years old.
Odette
then lived in the Lansing area for about 10 years, graduating from Waverly High
School in the mid-1990s when he was 21, the authorities said.
Odette
has lived in the Flint area for about 10 years. The cases filed against him so
far accuse him of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and a variety of other
serious felony charges in Vienna Township and Flint Township.
The
sheriff said evidence shows other sexual assaults on children took place in the
Flint and Otsego County.
© 2007 Flint Journal. Used with permission
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