Teenage burglars may get away with breaking into a man's home after showing California police that their victim allegedly had a large stash of child pornography.
Kraig Stockard quickly transformed from victim to criminal suspect when the teens gave police stolen CDs allegedly loaded with thousands of explicit photographs and movies, according to Merced County Sheriff's Department Deputy Tom McKenzie.
The burglars -- one 19 years old and the other a minor -- stole 50 compact discs from Stockard's barn on Sept. 12, Fox 40 reports.
Later, when the young crooks asked a family member to help them record music on the discs, they discovered the CDs already were filled with a trove of pornography, including many images of children, the sheriff's department said in a statement.
Cops said that 30 of the 50 discs had images of kiddie porn. They raided Stockard's home and seized several computers, laptops and other hardware. But they haven't searched the computers for additional contraband, McKenzie told The Huffington Post.
Stockard initially denied that he owned the illicit material, but cops said he later admitted the CDs were his. Investigators said his collection goes back to at least 2004.
Police accepted the alleged evidence from the thieves, but didn't press charges against them, although the district attorney is reviewing their case, according to McKenzie.
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