Updated: Investigation of Child Porn Smuggler Ongoing

Update: Patch reached Robert Matheson at his home Saturday morning. He declined to comment.

Original: Robert Matheson, the 66-year-old Sierra Madre resident who plead guilty to possessing and smuggling child pornography across the Canadian border in October, returned to Sierra Madre this week.

Despite his conviction and a near four-month jail sentence served in Canada, Police Chief Larry Giannone said that Matheson is not required to register as a sex offender in California due to the plea bargain he took in Canada, and the fact that the crime did not occur in California.

However, Chief Giannone said there is a possibility Matheson could be required to register as a sex offender pending results of the joint investigation currently being conducted by the SMPD and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

How the U.S.A. Handles Foreign Sex Offenders

The U.S.A. recognizes sex offense convictions that occur in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, according to the National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification.

SORNA says a person does not have to register as a sex offender in the U.S.A. if they were convicted in a country that doesn’t have "sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process for the accused under guidelines or regulations established [by the Attorney General]."

SORNA guidelines go on to say: "Sex offense convictions under the laws of Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are deemed to have been obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process, and registration must be required for such convictions on the same footing as domestic convictions."

Read the rest of SORNA’s guidelines on foreign sex offenders below.

Matheson's Conviction and Investigation

Matheson’s laptop was searched at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport in October and was found to contain about 2,500 pornographic photos of young boys, some who were engaged in sex acts. There were also almost 300 pornographic videos of children and ten short stories about young boys who had sexual relationships with older men like priests and teachers.

The a 28-year-old man, lead immigration agents to search his laptop.

The SMPD in December. Police have not released any information regarding the search or if any evidence was discovered.

While ICE is the lead agency on the investigation, SMPD is assisting. Neither ICE nor SMPD would disclose any details of their investigation so far.

“The case remains pending at this time,” said ICE spokesperson Virginia Kice. “The ultimate determination about whether federal charges will be brought in a case is made by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Will Matheson Stay in Sierra Madre?

Matheson visited the SMPD on Friday to speak with police officers.

“He was very cordial,” said Chief Giannone. “He came in on his own to let us know he was here. I think at some point he may elect to choose to talk to people about it.”

As for whether Matheson will stay in Sierra Madre, Chief Giannone said he didn’t mention if he was staying in town, but he also didn’t mention whether he was moving.

 SORNA's Guidelines for Foreign Accused Sex Offenders:

Section 111(5)(B) of SORNA instructs that registration need not be required on the basis of a foreign conviction if the conviction “was not obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process for the accused under guidelines or regulations established [by the Attorney General].”  The following standards are adopted pursuant to section 111(5)(B):

• Sex offense convictions under the laws of Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are deemed to have been obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process, and registration must be required for such convictions on the same footing as domestic convictions.

• Sex offense convictions under the laws of any foreign country are deemed to have been obtained with sufficient safeguards for fundamental fairness and due process if the U.S. State Department, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, has concluded that an independent judiciary generally (or vigorously) enforced the right to a fair trial in that country during the year in which the conviction occurred.  Registration must be required on the basis of such convictions on the same footing as domestic convictions.

• With respect to sex offense convictions in foreign countries that do not satisfy the criteria stated above, a jurisdiction is not required to register the convicted person if the jurisdiction determines—through whatever process or procedure it may choose to adopt—that the conviction does not constitute a reliable indication of factual guilt because of the lack of an impartial tribunal, because of denial of the right to respond to the evidence against the person or to present exculpatory evidence, or because of denial of the right to the assistance of counsel.

The foregoing standards do not mean that jurisdictions must incorporate these particular criteria or procedures into their registration systems.  Jurisdictions may wish to register all foreign sex offense convicts, or to register such convicts with fewer qualifications or limitations than those allowed under the standards set forth above.  The stated criteria only define the minimum categories of foreign convicts for whom registration is required for compliance with SORNA, and as is generally the case under SORNA, jurisdictions are free to require registration more broadly than the SORNA minimum.

More Coverage of Robert Matheson:

Patch will continue to follow this story as it develops.