Former owner of Ann Arbor real estate company indicted on federal child pornography charge
The owner of a now-closed Ann Arbor real estate company who is already facing sexual assault charges in Canada was indicted on a child pornography charge in Detroit federal court.
Richard Fabian, 63, was arrested at his home in Scio Township this morning and is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Detroit this afternoon, said Roland Herndon, the special agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Richard Fabian faces new charges.
Fabian faces a federal charge of possession of child pornography. The indictment filed Thursday accuses Fabian of possessing "a computer, computer media and VHS tapes containing still and video images that depict child pornography."
The indictment does not say how many images Fabian is accused of possessing, and Herndon said he did not have further details. The indictment also does not provide details on how far back the images date.
A lawyer representing Fabian could not be reached this morning.
The computer and other media were seized when authorities searched Fabian's home in February 2009 in connection with his case in Canada.
Fabian is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a Canadian park while the assault was videotaped nearly 17 years ago. He is charged with sexual assault, corrupting morals and sexual interference with a person under 14.
Officials said the video surfaced after police began investigating a Clinton resident on child pornography charges.
Police said Fabian sexually assaulted the 13-year-old in 1992 while 62-year-old Gerald Morgan of Clinton videotaped the assault.
Using images from the videotape that was found, detectives were able to determine the crime occurred at a popular conservation area just outside Chatham, about an hour from the Windsor-Ontario border. They also located the victim.
Officials at the Chatham-Kent Police Service in Ontario said this morning that Fabian is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in that case on May 21. He will likely face 14 to 25 years in prison if he is convicted in that case, officials said.
Authorities have accused Fabian and Morgan of seeking out their victims at photo shoots, events and public places frequented by female children. Authorities also said Fabian and Morgan worked together in Ontario, and also may have worked alone or with others in Michigan and Ohio, dating as far back as the early 1980s.
The case came to light in 2007 after investigators said Morgan moved from his home in Lenawee County and left a box of items - including pornography - behind. Morgan was sentenced last year to serve nearly 13 years in prison on convictions for child pornography and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Police said Morgan had 100 videotapes and CDs, six hard drives, numerous photographs, negatives, video footage from parks, the video of the sexual assault of the 13-year-old girl and sadomasochistic images of children under the age of 12.
Fabian's business, Fabian Realty, was located across from Michigan Stadium, but closed last year after he was charged in Canada. Washtenaw County property records show Fabian owns several parcels, including the land on the northwest corner of Stadium Boulevard and South Main Street that housed his business.
Comments
a2karen
Wed, May 5, 2010 : 7:59 a.m.
Please continue to follow this story! I lived for 20 years right behind this house on Snyder and yes it is right across from Pioneer. I asked my 20 year old today if she ever saw his face before and luckily she didn't. This is every parent's nightmare. I wonder if there were any victims in Ann Arbor and wonder too, how quickly the courts work in Canada. The story says, "The case came to light in 2007" are the two men accused, held or out on bond and if so, in Canada or here? I would appreciate more follow up.
john e le beau
Sat, Mar 12, 2011 : 6:35 p.m.
this so wrong! we need to keep our kids safe!!
Shitari123
Sat, May 1, 2010 : 7:06 p.m.
@Atnaap......you REALLY aren't that naive, are you? Unfortunately, these guys are everywhere!
theodynus
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 3:44 p.m.
This is sick. I can't believe this is going on in my community. VHS? REALLY?
iceman
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 11:29 a.m.
IF he goes to prison,he'll get what he deserves. I hear the other prisoner's really don't like his kind! Many of these guys never survive prison.
tracyann
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 10:35 a.m.
I meant, if anyone else knows of other reasons for removing it, please share.
tracyann
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 10:33 a.m.
@Anonymous-I just finished my psychiatric nursing rotation so I don't know how clear my explanation will be but here goes! I believe leaving pedophilia in the DSM allows these people to say that they couldn't help what they were doing because they have a mental illness. Pedophilia, rape, what have you, is criminal in nature and while those who commit such acts are certainly "sick in the head", removing it from the DSM, hopefully, ensures they receive prison time and not probation with therapy. If there is more to it, I'm not sure, but if anyone does feel free to share.
gwncb
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 9:30 a.m.
The business is closed. Right? I did not read below the headline but some of your readers prefer good news about Ann Arbor.
Sandra Samons
Wed, Apr 28, 2010 : 8:58 a.m.
I find it interesting / odd that this article notes the location of Fabian Realty as being across the street from Michigan Stadium but fails to note that, more to the point, it is across the street from Pioneer High School where he would have easy access to teen age girls! Poorly connected synapse?
Anonymous Due to Bigotry
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 7:40 p.m.
Guys like this should spend their lives in prison. What's also really sad is this (not sure what year it's from): At its annual convention in May, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) held a symposium to discuss removing gender identity disorder and the paraphilias from the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Paraphilias are defined as recurrent and intense sexual feelings or behavior which involve nonhumans, children, or nonconsenting adults, or the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner.1 They include pedophilia, exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism, and sadomasochism. As though pedophilia were some sort of legitimate "lifestyle choice".... (I'd post a link to the source for that, but every time I post a link my comment gets deleted. I don't understand why annarbor.com won't explicitly state their moderation policy. I can't read their minds.)
Blue
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 6:14 p.m.
Really twisted guy who deserves prison for the rest of his miserable life. Can't even begin to imagine what he's been up to, loose in our community, since the early 1980's. This guy has a wife...did she know anything? Too sick for words!
John of Saline
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 6:12 p.m.
I know many of the men in my generation (I'm 65) are just furious at the loss of power and influence in today's world. That's a bizarre statement. You really believe that?
Patricia Cockrell
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 5:03 p.m.
This just blows my mind, for some reason. The fact that he'd been living just a few blocks from me naturally makes my skill crawl, but reading the extent of his activities really makes me want to go out and warn every child I know. The whole strange nature of that kind of sexual attraction is enough to give me nightmares, but the planning and FILMING of these violations in conjunction with another such predator makes me feel downright panicky. That takes the situation from sick into evil. This abuse of the young and helpless has to be about power more than about sex, and I believe it's as much a social and societal act of violence as it is psychological. I know many of the men in my generation (I'm 65) are just furious at the loss of power and influence in today's world. Maybe that pushes the sexual components into the stratosphere, I don't know... But it seems like an angry act by a typically "entitled" minded man.
aajeff
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 2:19 p.m.
I've been wondering how this guy has avoided being in prison... living in town, parking cars on his property at M sports events, etc. for over a year since this case was made public. Even wrote to an AA.Com reporter inquiring about this guys status a month or so ago...said he would check into it but never bothered to get back to me. With the severity of the original charges one would think he should NOT have been walking around for a year waiting for a hearing. geez
trs80
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 1 p.m.
I like when they post up a Picture. haha. The things I wish I could say/type but only know that A2.com would not be so happy. Oh well, Im sure we are all thinking the same thing... what comes around goes around. They sure will love him in prison.
Lokalisierung
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 11:46 a.m.
Guy was such a sicko he just left of box of kiddie porn when he moved? Wow...when you've got so much you can't keep track of it all, time for the slammer. I WILL NOT be doing any business with his company, that's for sure.
Salinemary
Tue, Apr 27, 2010 : 10:25 a.m.
Sick, sick, sick.