In one of the most horrifying child pornography cases in recent memory, federal investigators believe that a Michigan couple may have used their own children to make pornographic videos–then sent the videos to each other. If convicted on all charges, they could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Last weekend, FBI agents paid a visit to the mobile home of Colin and Anngela Boyle in White Lake, northwest of Detroit. They’d gotten a tip that Colin Boyle was a frequent guest at a child porn site and had downloaded several pictures from that site. Among them was a picture of a two-year-old girl being molested by an adult male.
Newsradio 950 WWJ in Detroit obtained a copy of the criminal complaint against the Boyles. Read it here. When questioned by investigators, Colin Boyle admitted to downloading child porn from the Internet. Anngela Boyle admitted that she and her husband frequently sent each other child porn via their cell phones. According to Anngela, child porn is the only thing that sexually arouses her husband.
During the search, investigators found a video of a naked one-year-old girl, and heard a male voice that resembled that of Colin speaking to the girl. When confronted with the video, Anngela admitted that she and her husband knew the girl. She also admitted that she and her husband engaged in sexually explicit acts with the girl and a three-year-old boy also known to them.
Now here’s where this case really gets hideous. According to WJBK in Detroit, investigators believe that the Boyles’ three-year-old son and two-year-old daughter may have been depicted in some of the explicit videos found on the Boyles’ phones and computer. Needless to say, that revelation has the Boyles’ neighbors dumbfounded. It’s one thing to have monsters living in your own neighborhood, but to do this to their own kids? I can’t even. The kids are currently being cared for by child protective services. If their parents made them a part of these sick videos, they’re going to need a lifetime of healing.
Even worse, according to the criminal complaint, Colin Boyle is a registered sex offender with two convictions for sex offenses since 2004. As a result, he is a “Tier 3” sex offender–the highest classification of sex offender in the state. Under Michigan law, he must check in with law enforcement every quarter for the rest of his life. He failed to comply with this requirement at least twice.
That disclosure, to my mind, would rule out any possibility of a lenient sentence for Anngela Boyle. Simply put, it is unconscionable that anyone would knowingly allow someone with that kind of record around children. As many of you know, my ex-wife deceived me about her history of abusing kids. Had I known about this at any point during our marriage, I would have thrown her out first and asked questions later. For Anngela not to have done the same with Colin is downright obscene.
I can think of only one case of child porn that is anywhere near as outrageous at this one. You may recall that in 2012, Lisa Biron, an attorney with close ties to the Alliance Defending Freedom, was arrested on charges of sexually exploiting her own daughter. She’d not only recorded herself having sex with her daughter, but took her daughter to Canada and recorded her having sex with a man there. Biron was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Cases like this are why sentences for this type of crime are rightly among the most draconian in the criminal justice system.
The Boyles are currently being held without bond on charges of producing, receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography. If convicted on all charges, they each face a minimum of 19 years in prison, and a maximum of life. Given the circumstances–and especially if it turns out their own kids were victims–I hope that prosecutors find a way to ensure they die in prison.
