Walter Harlan "Mike" Echols (April 1, 1944 – January 10, 2003) was an American author who wrote several books, mainly dealing with child sexual abuse. These include I Know My First Name Is Steven, which chronicles the kidnap of Steven Stayner, and Brother Tony's Boys, which tells the story of Brother Tony Leyva, a Pentecostal revivalist preacher and pederast.[1]

Echols infiltrated NAMBLA and wrote of his experience in I Know My First Name is Steven.[2]

Echols was known for researching the Internet for pedophile chat rooms and forums. In 1998, Echols created Better a Millstone (BAM), a child-safety advocacy group, that identified and reported pedophiles to authorities. BAM's website also listed child porn sites, including web addresses, in an effort to publicly pressure sites' hosts.[3][4]

Echols died in 2003 at age 58 in the Monterey County Jail in California from a pulmonary embolism.[5][6] He was in jail for failing to appear in court after being charged with indecent exposure for exposing himself to police, among other misdemeanors.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Scott (October 15, 1996). "Shining a Bright Light on a Dark Subject". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. ProQuest 293319056.
  2. ↑ Harris, Scott (March 10, 1992). "A Victory for Shadowy Crusader As Persistent as a Nazi Hunter and as Duplicitous as a Con Man, Mike Echols 'Stings' Pedophile Group and Stirs a Tempest in San Francisco". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. ProQuest 281626860.
  3. ↑ Mims, Bob (October 28, 2000). "BYU Volunteer Helps Patrol Web For Smut Peddlers". The Salt Lake Tribune. ProQuest 281209878.
  4. ↑ Blackwell, Tom (July 25, 2001). "Web site monitored to catch pedophiles: Was based in Montreal". National Post. ISSN 1486-8008. ProQuest 329798139.
  5. ↑ Staff and wire reports (2003-01-14). "Inmate death blamed on clot: Jail Officials Say Echols Had Been in Poor Health; Man was found dead in his cell on Friday". The Salinas Californian.
  6. ↑ Finz, Stacy (January 14, 2003). "Stayner book author dies of heart attack". San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ "Anti-child-pornography crusader sentenced for violating probation". Monterey County Herald (California). 2002-12-13.
  8. ↑ Livernois, Joe (January 13, 2003). "Author Echols, wrote book about Steven Stayner, dies in jail". The Monterey County Herald. Gale A96478591.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.