By Ron Fonger
Flint Journal
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Robert C. Lamb is serving 30 months in state prison for possession of child pornography, but he still is selling images of boys he photographed before his arrest.
The Web site that bears Lamb’s name still is operating with the message “The store is open again” posted on its home page as well as a photo of Lamb, 51, wearing a fedora.
The Web site has attracted the attention of child advocacy groups and police, who say it appears to be legal while still exploitative of the young-looking teen models - many of whom strike bare-chested poses for photo sets that sell for $24.99 or more.
“This is the type of material a sex offender will collect,” said Nancy McBride, national safety director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “I feel badly for these kids ... (and) he’s pretty audacious doing it from prison.”
Lamb, a registered sex offender, is in Hiawatha Correctional Facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He was sentenced in January 2007 in Genesee Circuit Court for possessing child pornography.
Charges against Lamb came after township police found pictures of naked subjects on a computer
disk at his home during a murder investigation.
Lamb was not charged in connection with the slaying, but the search of his house led to his child pornography conviction.
Lamb also spent two years in prison for a 1987 conviction of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child 13 to 15 years old, and he was placed in a court-ordered diversion program after he was charged in 1980 with soliciting a minor for immoral purposes.
Before his sentencing in 2007, Lamb said he planned to shut down his boy model Web site because it attracted police scrutiny, but later he said he needed to keep the electronic storefront open to make money.
The Web site now includes a message from a photographer identified as Brad Miller, who said he is a friend and former photography student of Lamb. Payments are sent to Photographic Services of Rockwall, Texas.
It’s not clear how proceeds from sales of photos on the site are being
distributed while taxpayers support Lamb’s stay in prison.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said he will investigate whether any money collected by Lamb can be recovered to help offset the cost of his institutionalization.
“I think the state of Michigan is entitled to some of the proceeds (in return) for his housing and care,” Leyton said.
Miller’s statement on Lamb’s Web site says, in part, “Bob has asked me to watch over his Web site in his absence while he takes a break from photography and concentrates on other avenues such as his real estate business.”
The message does not make mention of Lamb’s arrest, conviction or sentencing for possession of child pornography.
The Journal could not reach Miller for comment, and Lamb declined a request for an interview, according to officials with the Michigan Department of Corrections.
A spokesman for the prison system said Lamb is not allowed to use e-mail or the Internet while he is incarcerated, but he was not restricted from selling his photos or keeping his Web site open when he was sentenced by Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut last year.
One leader of a national nonprofit organization that helps parents of children trying to break into modeling and acting said she’s not surprised that Lamb’s site remains open.
“The boy lovers tend to collect, and the danger with Bob Lamb is (he) took the pictures (before going to prison) and can sell those all day long. It’s not illegal,” said Anne Henry, co-founder of Biz Parentz (www.
bizparentz.com).
“As long as these men can produce sexy (images) without crossing the line, they are allowed to do it,” said Henry, whose group has pushed an online petition drive asking eBay (www.ebay.com) to stop allowing the sale of erotic child photos.
Henry said she is familiar with Lamb, who had a reputation as a good technical photographer who could produce slick, highly retouched photos, some of which could pass as senior pictures - but others that focused attention on the model’s bare chest, feet, biceps or armpits.
Township police Sgt. Rick Witham said police are familiar with Lamb’s photography business but never were able to make a criminal case involving photos from his Web site.
None of the charges were for photos Lamb took of his models.
The Journal could not reach some of Lamb’s past models this week, but one said in a 2006 interview that Lamb treated him like a son, paying him well and acting appropriately.
In addition to photos, Lamb also sold would-be photographers “one-on-one” modeling sessions with teens featured on his Web site for $525 before his most recent arrest. That offer apparently is no longer available.
He produced “The American Boy, A Photographic Essay,” a self-published 80-page book sold through a link on Lamb’s Web site. A hardcover copy of the book sells for $32.99, according to his Web site.
Copyright 2008 Flint Journal