News and Press Releases

OLYMPIA OB-GYN SENTENCED TO 6 + YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Doctor Tracked by Law Enforcement After Exchanging Child Porn with Atlanta Man

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2008

GEORGE ELLIOTT KABACY, M.D., 69, of Lacey, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison, ten years of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine for Possession of Child Pornography. KABACY, a gynecologist in Olympia, was actively practicing at the time of his arrest in December 2006. KABACY will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison.

KABACY pleaded guilty in November 2007, admitting in his plea agreement that he knowingly possessed more than 8,000 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. KABACY also admits to possessing videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, both on his computer and on 36 compact disks. Some of the images depict children under the age of 12. KABACY admitted that he communicated with other people over the Internet, expressing his interest in having sex with minors and exchanging more than 40 images of child pornography with these other people over the Internet. KABACY first came to the attention of the FBI after the arrest of an Atlanta, Georgia man who indicated he had communicated with KABACY. In fact the man alleged that KABACY had sent him a computer in exchange for the man’s promise that he would send KABACY pornographic pictures of his grandchildren. The Atlanta man claimed he had never sent those pictures.

On December 19, 2006, FBI agents searched KABACY’s Lacey home and arrested him. KABACY was detained until December 21, 2006, when he was released on electric home monitoring and ordered to immediately cease practicing as a physician. KABACY has been incarcerated since January 2008 for violating terms of his pretrial release.

In court today Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi stated that KABACY traded images of child porn the way other people trade baseball cards. Lombardi said KABACY “traded pictures of children being subjected to rape and degradation,” and he noted that the amount of child pornography was one of the largest collections prosecuted in the Western District of Washington. “It’s the product of work, lots and lots of work, to collect that much and burn it onto CDs,” Lombardi said.

U.S. District Judge Franklin D. Burgess said he “found this case troubling in a lot of ways.” Judge Burgess said it was clear KABACY’s involvement in child pornography had gone on for some time. Judge Burgess said, “a person serving in his capacity (as a doctor) is expected to act at a higher level... Sometimes, one bad thing can outweigh a lot of good things someone does.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.

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