Three months after my brother Tim’s abduction and murder, Congress was preparing legislation against child pornography and held hearings May-September of 1977. On hand to testify was Jackson Prison inmate, Michigander, pedophile and purveyor/distributor/creator of child pornography, Gerald S. Richards. His testimony is that of a manipulative, pathological criminal who was granted leniency for this bullshit testimony. He portrays his “work” with boys as “models.” He says next to nothing about the wealthy, well-connected Frank Shelden, his “friend” and partner in the monstrous “boys nature camp” on N. Fox Island, where victims have report being raped, sexually assaulted and filmed.
See also,
The Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 was passed and then followed with other legislation throughout the decades to keep up with technological advances criminals used to exploit children.
While I have written a time or two about this criminal, Richards, I am not an expert on N. Fox Island, Frank Shelden, Gerald Richards, Adam Starchild or Dyer Grossman. Here is an excellent overview:
https://thehotstar.net/northfoxisland.html
It was against this backdrop that the Oakland County child murders took place from February 1976-March 1977. There was plenty of amazingly deep reporting on Shelden and N. Fox Island by Marilyn Wright of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, but very little reporting in southern Michigan. Wright’s reporting was entered into the Congressional record before the committee considering the 1977 legislation.
Reporter Michael Sneed of the Chicago Tribune managed to interview Gerald Richards:
Sneed also testified at the hearings, describing the investigation done by a team at the Tribune to investigate child pornography in Illinois and the nation-wide links. The committee acknowledged the import and gravity of the work done on this subject by the Tribune.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/51083NCJRS.pdf (pages 109-118).
Genesee County (MI) Prosecutor Robert Leonard (then also president-elect of the National Association of District Attorneys) and assistant prosecutor Lenore Ferber also gave testimony including their eight-week investigation into who we now know were pedophiles Greg Greene, Chris Busch, Douglas Bennett and a fourth unnamed man who was in Ohio. (Id., beginning at 92.)
But really nary a word in the Detroit area the summer of 1977 about the very real possibility that the Oakland County child abductions could be exactly what happens when pedophilia and child pornography are allowed to flourish and, unchecked, to escalate to murder. The press black out began after Kristine Mihelich’s body was found in January 1977 and continues unabated to this day, aided by the now quite ridiculous assertion that nobody can comment on an “ongoing” investigation.
While shit was going down in Flint, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois, in Birmingham, Michigan and all of Oakland County it was a version of Mayor Vaughn’s statement to the residents of Amity in the 1975 movie Jaws: “I’m pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers. But, as you see, it’s a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time.”
Except for those four dead kids.
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Jaws was based on a true story. What is more scary about OCCK is that the authorities do not want this case solved. I am sincere in my belief that the do know who the killer is. For those of you who do not live in the Detroit area , there has been zero on the Detroit media about the OCCK case since circa 1978.
One thing I cannot get past is how these disgusting pieces of filth were able to feelso confident and take such chances to drop the bodies of Mark, Jill Kristine and Tim so publicly. Mark’s body in broad daylight in a very highly trafficked area. Jill’s body very nearly in front of the Troy police , Tim placed SO coincidentally just AFTER the officer staking out that area had moved positions. As I recall, The all out panic and swarms of police checking vehicles at that time meant everybody was suspicious of everybody and everybody was watching. Us kids were talking about nothing else- we even played a game called ‘hide from the child killer’ – pathetic as that sounds. I recall even a neighbor my parents and neighbors had known and been cordial with for 20 years – was considered suspicious because he was ‘odd’. It was all out panic that week of March 1977 – the news was constant and overwhelming. We assumed the killer was some diabolical genius working alone – only to find out it was just these rodent like, low life freaks(Sloan, Busch et al)So how could these not particularly intelligent , in some cases, drug addled losers have the confidence to drop Tim’s body in such a public place? There HAD to be a link in law enforcement – there simply is no other explanation. These POS ‘d had inside information on where patrol cops would and wouldn’t be. The enemy within- and you can bet LBrooks was in on it.
I’m committed to exposing such disgusting actions of all those involved.
Bill Colovos
Cell: 313-920-5856
Office: 734-282-2900
bcolovos@sbcglobal.net
From another reader:
Frank Shelden was on the board of directors of Boys Republic, a delinquent boys boarding school funded by United Foundation, a General Motors charity.
I just came back to your site, by chance. I must be riding your wavelength this week. I just made my third video about all of this. (I am NOT good at videos on social media, but I am a survivor and it seems my only form of viable therapy is seeking justice.)
– Angelique Collins
“He says next to nothing about Frank Shelden, who was at the time probably the head of the snake of the largest child porn operation in the world”
A popular belief, after Richards was arrested, and continues to be today.
Another popular belief, then and now, is that commercial child pornography was and is controlled by organized crime. Interestingly, your Mr. Leonard says (pg.95 of the hearings), that neither he nor the Attorney Generals of the other states on the committee, “have detected the involvement of organized crime as we understand it”.
Sen. Convers isn’t having that, it’s “common sense” to him that organized crime MUST be involved…perhaps Leonard meant to say; “not detected, YET?” Leonard is forced to cede that is possible.
Sometimes, people don’t want to know the facts or hear the truth.
What provable evidence is there, for this belief; “at the time probably the head of the snake of the largest child porn operation in the world”?
It is a provable fact, that Shelden was the biggest producer of boy pornography STORIES, first under Coltsfoot Press and later under Acolyte Press – but his involvement in both came after he fled US, from 1980 on.
Lawson claimed Shelden was “involved” with Kim Tam Ang, the European based publisher of Kim Productions (boy pornography). Dutch police confirmed, both were known to them, and both were known as sexual abusers of boys involved in child pornography. Dutch Police did NOT say, they were involved in pornography TOGETHER, however.
If we hypothesize Shelden selling boy pornography materials to Kim, for publication in Holland or Denmark, there couldn’t be much of it – because Kim Productions published only the first 6 issues of “Piccolo”. Thereafter, “Piccolo” was picked up and subsequently published by COQ International.
COQ were the biggest European producers of male (Gay) pornography during the “legal child porn” period. Shelden did not own, finance or control COQ, nor is there documentation that he was ever a “director-manager” that I know of. The facts of who was running COQ International, and the other major European child pornography publishers, are documented and publicly available. There was no reason for this info to be “secret”, they were not committing a crime by publishing CP in their nations, at that time.
The biggest European publisher of CP, the next biggest producer of male CP, was Color Climax Corp or CCC. This was owned and run by the Theander brothers. Again, there’s no documentation of a link between Shelden and the Theanders. Famously, CCC published the “Loverboys” (boy/boy) films and magazines. Through personal correspondence with Gerald Richard’s primary victim, I have eliminated “Gerry’s boys” as appearing in that series. If Shelden was producing CP while in Michigan, like filmed on the island, that didn’t end up in the CCC materials.
By far the most prolific producer of male (Gay) pornography in US was Guy Strait. Strait was not financed or controlled by Shelden. Strait had another boy CP producing friend, in California, also a millionaire at least as wealthy as Shelden; Billy Byars. These two produced some materials together, and much more separately.
The next most prolific American producer of boy CP was Roy Ames of Texas. He had a huge warehouse operation; filming, developing, publishing and distributing his own materials out of it. I’m not aware of Ames purchasing and publishing materials from other creators.
These are all well documented facts. What do we have, supporting this; “the head of the snake of the largest child porn operation in the world”? Some personal testimony, lots of speculation & rumor, any provable fact?
Thank you for your insights. I said “probably” as to child porn and I will amend the post.