Gay Couple Guilty of Child Sex Crimes

(Hartford, Michigan) In June 2007, two former foster parents and same-sex couple, Kurt Alfred Amundson, 42, and Robert George Shafer, 43, were indicted by a federal grand jury for alleged sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.

Both were charged with exploiting a child by producing images of a young boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct. It's believed the boy, described as under 13 years old, was a foster child of Amundson and Shafer.

In the latest development, both Amundson and Shafer have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids to producing images of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Investigators found several images of child pornography, including images of a child befriended by the two men, on computers, cameras, CDs and floppy disks seized from the Hartford men's residence in June 2006, according to a news release.

Authorities said the two were licensed as foster-care providers and were in the process of adopting a child for whom they were serving as foster parents. The foster child and the child befriended by the two men alleged that Shafer and Amundson sexually assaulted them, according to the news release.

Notably, Amundson was heralded as a homosexual foster parent in a 2003 article, "The Changing Face of the American Family."

When asked about his role as a same-sex foster parent he said mentoring children was not satisfying enough for him.

"It was helpful, but I wanted to carry the relationship beyond that," he said in the article.

Apparently, he did.

Shafer and Amundson are scheduled to be sentenced, respectively, in October and November. They each face a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison with a maximum 30 years. Fines of up to $250,000 are also possible.

Companion posts at Conservative Thinking and The Jawa Report.