Former Sports Writer Preps For Sex Offense Trial In NC Superior Court

Accusations of sex offenses involving a minor were flying against former sports writer and small business owner Eric Lusk last summer after the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC) discovered child pornography on Lusk’s computer. According to an Elkin detective involved in the case, the child pornography was downloaded.

Lusk recently waived his right to a preliminary or probable cause hearing regarding the internet sex crimes charges he is facing. This would have been an opportunity to hear the evidence that the State has gathered against him as well as a chance for his defense lawyer to cross-examine any state witnesses.

Waiving the hearing means that his case will proceed to trial in North Carolina Superior Court. In the meantime, he may be working on a negotiated plea or preparing to vigorously fight the internet child pornography charges he is facing.

It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which Lusk inadvertently downloaded illegal child pornography. Viewing, sharing and downloading adult pornography is not illegal and it is all too common for a pornographic image or video of a child to sneak into a bulk download of otherwise legal material.

Also, those who use file-sharing networks may be at a heightened risk for illegally downloading explicit images of minors. Many of these software systems default to a sharing setting, meaning that anything that you have in your shared folder is open to anyone else on the network. You must manually disable these features to avoid inadvertently distributing illegal pornography if it finds its way onto your computer.

Source: Elkin Tribune, “Lusk waives probable cause hearing,” March 12, 2013