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U.S. NEWS Friday 21 September 2018

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FBI: Solar observatory closed after child porn case opened

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS several months earlier but chief observer that there
Associated Press did not immediately report was a "serial killer in the
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — the discovery to authori- area, and that he was fear-
The mysterious closure of a ties because he was "dis- ful that the killer might en-
solar observatory in south- tracted" by an unspecified ter the facility and execute
ern New Mexico earlier this urgent issue at the observa- someone."
month happened after the tory. The observatory closed,
FBI started opened a child The search warrant pro- without consulting FBI
pornography investigation vided to a judge the jus- agents, after Cope's com-
involving a janitor's com- tifications of agents so ments about the serial killer
puter found at the obser- they could search com- and his erratic behavior,
vatory and agents tracked puters, cellphones or tab- the warrant said.
wireless signals used to ac- lets owned by the janitor, The Association of Univer-
cess child porn, according Joshua Lee Cope, and the sities for Research in As-
to an FBI search warrant af- house trailer where he lives. tronomy, that group that
fidavit filed in federal court. An FBI agent seized the lap- manages the site under a
The mountaintop Sunspot top at the observatory on cooperative agreement
Solar Observatory closed August 21, 2018, and took it with the National Science
for from Sept. 6 to Sept. to the FBI office in Las Cru- Foundation, declined com-
17 but the research asso- ces, court documents said. ment on the details about
ciation that manages it has FBI spokesman Frank Fisher the observatory in the court
said only that an unspeci- said Thursday that Cope, documents.
fied security issue was the 30, has not been charged "We cannot comment on
reason for the closure. The and the investigation is on- an ongoing law enforce-
facility employs a small going. ment investigation," said In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, file photo, security guards are sta-
tioned at the entrance to the Sunspot Solar Observatory to turn
group of scientists, re- Cope lives on property association spokeswoman away the visitors curious about the site's sudden closure, in Sun-
searchers and students to owned by his parents in the Shari Lifson. spot, N.M.
capture some of the sharp- community of La Luz, New Lifson did not immediately Associated Press
est images of the sun avail- Mexico, the search warrant reply to an email asking to
able in the world. said. A phone message left Cope was still an employ- Alamogordo, Holloman Air ferred to the National Solar
The search warrant filed for Cope at a telephone ee. Force Base, White Sands Observatory, which is part
last week in federal court number listed for his par- The Sunspot Solar Observa- Missile Range, White Sands of the National Science
the city of Las Cruces said ents seeking comment was tory was established in 1947 National Monument and Foundation. Data from ob-
the facility's chief observer, not immediately returned. atop Sacramento Peak in the site of the world's first servations done at Sunspot
who was not identified, After Cope could not find the Lincoln National Forest atomic bomb test. is sent to New Mexico State
told FBI agents in August he his laptop, the court docu- and overlooks the Tularosa It was built by the U.S. Air University servers and can
found a laptop computer ments said, he began to Basin — an expanse of des- Force. After several years be used by researchers
with child pornography act frantically and told the ert that includes the city of of operation, it was trans- around the world.q