Child porn raid was constitutional, judge rules

COEUR d’ALENE — A judge ruled that police did not violate the constitutional rights of a man accused of downloading child sexual abuse material when they raided his home.

Matthew G. Barszcz, 26, of Coeur d’Alene, is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a child by distribution of sexually explicit materials, all felonies.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges in June.

The charges stem from July 2020, when detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched for people distributing images of child sexual abuse via BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.

Police reportedly found a device containing multiple files that were previously identified as being of interest to child pornography investigations.

Using the IP address associating with the device, police determined it was located at the Coeur d’Alene residence where Barszcz lived. They obtained a search warrant for the location.

A team consisting of at least 20 law enforcement personnel executed the search warrant in the early hours of Feb. 3.

A household member testified she woke around 6 a.m. to police lights flashing outside and someone talking on a loudspeaker.

Dozens of armed police were outside, she said, including a SWAT team.

Police detained the woman, who told them the other residents, including Barszcz, were inside the house.

SWAT officers reportedly threw flash bangs outside the residence before Barszcz exited.

Flash bangs are explosive devices used to disorient a target with a blinding flash of light and a loud bang.

Police then entered the home, wherein they seized electronics belonging to Barszcz.

A forensic examination of the devices allegedly yielded numerous images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, as well as other content.

The content was downloaded between June and October 2020, according to court documents.

Barszcz allegedly told police he searched for, and downloaded, the material in order to report it to law enforcement.

He reportedly said he was a follower of QAnon, a disproven conspiracy theory alleging that a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring.

Barszcz also told police he knew it was illegal to possess images of child sexual abuse but found the images “intriguing,” according to court documents.

A judge issued a warrant for Barszcz’s arrest March 23.

Barszcz turned himself in the following day and later posted $200,000 bail.

Craig Zanetti, Barszcz’s attorney, filed a motion in June to suppress all evidence gathered during and after the raid, on the grounds that the search warrant was executed unreasonably, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

The evidence would include statements made by Barszcz, observations made by police and any materials seized during the search, which resulted in Barszcz’s arrest.

First Judicial Judge Lamond Berecz heard arguments in August.

The defense posited that the situation was not risky enough to justify the force police used, which included a SWAT team and flash bangs.

Meanwhile, the state argued that law enforcement “substantially complied” with Idaho’s “knock and announce” statutes, which require police to announce their presence and provide residents with an opportunity to open the door prior to a search.

In Idaho, officers may break open a door, window or any part of a house to execute a warrant if they are refused admittance after identifying themselves and their purpose.

Prosecutors further argued that the use of a SWAT team and flash bangs did not affect what materials were seized from the residence.

Judge Berecz ultimately denied the motion to suppress.

In a decision filed late last week, Berecz noted that the use of SWAT was “unwarranted and unnecessary” and said the state failed to justify the use of force.

However, Berecz wrote, suppression of evidence is not the appropriate remedy in this case.

For suppression to occur, the defendant must show that the evidence would not have come to light if not for unlawful police conduct.

The court found that police were lawfully entitled to search Barszcz’s home and seize the evidence, because the warrant was valid.

Though they executed the warrant in a “heavy-handed and unnecessary fashion,” Berecz wrote that such unreasonableness does not require suppression.

The court found that Barszcz could not show a factual nexus between unlawful conduct of police and the evidence sought to be suppressed.

A three-day jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin Nov. 8.

In Idaho, sexual exploitation of a child is a felony punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison.