Man convicted despite loss of evidence

LONDON, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of using his cell phone to videotape two female students having sex was convicted Friday even though police failed to download and preserve the evidence.

Antonio Fuller, 21, of London videotaped an 18-year-old having sex with a 15-year-old at a party and sent the 15-second video to his friends, prosecutors said. Making the recording and sending it are crimes because a juvenile was involved.

Police Chief Peter Tobin said officer Joe Cox thought he had preserved the video when he forwarded it from Fuller’s phone to Cox’s police e-mail account. But the officer never downloaded the video through the link.

When the video was deleted from Fuller’s phone or the phone contract was terminated, the link in Cox’s e-mail no longer linked to anything, according to Sprint, the phone-service provider.

“He was horrified,” Tobin said. “There are no law-enforcement classes out there that apply to technology about video phones.”

Fortunately, Tobin said Cox and several other people had seen the video and were prepared to testify about it.

On Friday, Fuller pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, which carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison.

Judge Robert Nichols set sentencing for Oct. 29.

Eamon Costello, an assistant Madison County prosecutor, said the loss of the video contributed to the decision to seek a plea bargain in the case. He said a jury may have been troubled by not seeing the video, but he believes there was adequate evidence of the existence of the video and its contents.