THE MOLESTING LANDORD

Landlord charged with child pornography

BLOOMINGTON, Calif. (AP) — Trips to Disneyland. Movies. Gifts of dirt bikes, clothes and video games. Everything the children could want, plus a place to stay for their impoverished parents.


Investigators say these were the tools a landlord used to win the trust of parents and lure their children to his residence, where he had equipped a room with bunk beds, video cameras and movies.




Earl Venton Buchanan, 62, pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges last week in federal court in El Centro. He has not yet been charged with molestation, but police said he may be. "Most families were on the economically deprived side," said San Bernardino County Detective Steve Burgrass. "He provided lots of nice things for the kids and the families. It gave him a little authority or power over the entire family."


Buchanan's court-appointed attorney, Steve Peterson, declined to comment. Buchanan could not be reached because his phone number is unlisted. Burgrass said Buchanan typically picked up the children at their homes, took them shopping or to an amusement park, then returned with them to his house to spend the night. He was arrested July 3 after returning from Mexico in a van with a 5-year-old boy on his lap.


Border inspectors in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego, seized a videotape that appeared to show Buchanan fondling a boy who looked as if he were "sleeping or heavily sedated," according to an affidavit. It was unclear whether the boy on the tape also had been in the van. Authorities who searched Buchanan's home in Bloomington, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, found a warehouse on the property that featured a bedroom and an adjoining children's room stocked with video games and DVDs of children's movies, according to the affidavit.


Investigators have identified eight to 11 children who are believed to have been molested by Buchanan, both boys and girls ranging in age from 2 to 15, said Michael Unzueta, special agent in charge of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego. The children's room "had bunk beds, toys, all the kinds of things that kids would like," Unzueta said. The bedroom and children's room were wired for video coverage.


Authorities said some parents -- it was unclear how many -- had complained to child-protection officials about Buchanan. According to the affidavit, a 15-year-old boy told investigators that Buchanan molested him two to three times a month for the last three years at homes in Mexico, Arkansas and California.

Buchanan may have run a construction business from the warehouse, Burgrass said. "It was like walking into Home Depot. There was tons of stuff in there," he said. "He had a little living quarters off to the side."