June 14, 2007

Respiratory therapist at Children's Hospital pleads guilty to molesting incapacitated patients
Defendant among most prolific traders of child pornography on popular file sharing network

SAN DIEGO - A 55-year-old former respiratory therapist, whose home computer contained one of the largest caches of child pornography images ever uncovered locally, faces 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting incapacitated patients at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego where he worked.

During a hearing in San Diego Superior Court Tuesday, Wayne Albert Bleyle admitted to eight counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child and four counts of exhibiting a minor in pornography. Under a plea agreement, he would serve 45 years and eight months in state prison. Bleyle will be formally sentenced July 25 in San Diego Superior Court.

"The defendant's crimes are some of the worst examples of child sexual abuse San Diego has seen," District Attorney Bonnie M. Dumanis said. "His young victims may have been helpless to stop him, but the criminal justice system was not. His guilty plea guarantees he will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs."

Bleyle had worked at the children's hospital for 25 years when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested him in March 2006. At that time, he worked in the hospital's convalescent ward caring for severely brain damaged and comatose nonverbal patients.

During a year-long investigation by ICE, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the San Diego Police Department Child Abuse Unit, agents traced more than 100,000 images of child pornography to Bleyle's home computer. Agents estimate at least 400 of those images were among those he exchanged in a popular child pornography file-sharing network, where he was known as one of the top traders.

"This case demonstrates the importance of ICE's Internet investigations targeting child sexual predators," said Serge Duarte, deputy special agent in charge for ICE Office of Investigations in San Diego. "The victims in this case were traumatized by the insidious criminal behavior of the defendant. ICE applauds the extraordinary cooperative work of the agencies involved in this case. Because of our joint efforts, this predator will no longer be able to harm innocent children in this community."

This investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, an initiative aimed at those who sexually exploit children. ICE welcomes the assistance of the public in catching predators. Members of the public wishing to report suspicious activity may contact ICE at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or Operation.Predator@dhs.gov . Additionally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an ICE partner on Operation Predator, can be contacted at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com. Additional information about the operation is posted at www.ice.gov.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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