A federal magistrate judge has signed off on a search warrant application by the FBI to scan laptops and hard drives seized six years ago from Keene libertarian activist Ian Freeman on allegations of possession of child pornography, according to court documents.
Freeman sued an FBI agent last year in federal court, requesting the devices be returned to him. He argued that he had never been charged with possessing any illegal images, and was therefore entitled to the return of his property, which includes archives of his online radio program.
In response, last week a different FBI agent applied for a search warrant alleging that the government still had probable cause, and that at least one computer or hard drive was never scanned due to encryption issues. The agency said it now has the technology necessary to do a final sweep of the electronics.
“The FBI wishes to return the devices but is concerned about returning them while there remains probable cause that they contain child pornography,” the government wrote in its search warrant application.
The agency noted that it is requesting the second search warrant more than six years after the first was granted “out of an abundance of caution” that it is not violating Freeman’s constitutional rights.
In a statement to NHPR, Jared Bedrick, a lawyer representing Freeman in the matter, said his client “denies any knowledge of contraband” on the devices.
Freeman was found guilty last month on financial crimes stemming from his operation of a cryptocurrency exchange. He will be sentenced in April in federal court.
He has maintained his innocence in both matters. Along with hosting a radio talk show, Freeman has unsuccessfully run for political office in New Hampshire several times. He’s also the pastor of the Shire Free Church, which he founded.
In his legal filing last March, Freeman alleged that the FBI’s original search warrant was improperly granted, and that “after six years, the sum total of the government’s efforts is nothing.”
In its search warrant application filed earlier this month, the FBI alleged that agents examined two computers in 2016, and found “what appeared to be child pornography,” though the agency never filed criminal charges. The government said that it was not able to scan all of the electronics it seized due to encryption software.
The FBI wrote in its application that it offered to delete the devices prior to returning them to Freeman, but that he refused the offer, prompting the new search warrant.
