Anti-Gay Activist Lawyer Convicted of Child Pornography
A New Hampshire lawyer who works with a virulently anti-gay Christian right organization has been found guilty of child pornography charges after videotaping a 14-year-old girl having sex with two men on multiple occasions.
Lisa Biron, 43, of Manchester faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison after a jury convicted her yesterday after deliberating for less than an hour.
Biron, arrested by the FBI last November, was accused of eight felony counts involving the videotaping of men having sex with the girl. She also allegedly made a cellphone video of herself having sex with the girl.
Biron, who claimed on her Facebook page (which was taken down, according to the Concord Monitor) that the Bible was her favorite book, had worked with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, in defending a Pentecostal church in Concord in a tax fight against the city.
The Arizona-based ADF calls itself a 鈥渟ervant ministry鈥� that seeks to transform the legal system and advocate 鈥渇or religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.鈥� The group issues dire warnings about 鈥渢he homosexual agenda鈥� and offers a book (available for a donation of $35) by its president, Alan Sears, and senior director Craig Osten, with that title. In the book, the authors claim that 鈥渢he homosexual agenda鈥� will destroy religious liberty and free speech. In one chapter, they claim that homosexuality on college campuses leads to pedophilia, and that homosexuality and pedophilia 鈥渁re intrinsically linked,鈥� a falsehood long perpetuated by the anti-gay right to demonize LGBT people.
In the wake of Biron鈥檚 arrest, the ADF removed all mentions of her from its website and Facebook page, and in a November CBS News report said that Biron was never an employee. The group has released no further statements on Biron. According to the LGBT blog Joe.My.God., the group continued to remove mentions of her from its Facebook page yesterday and banned anyone who posted anything about her.
Biron may not have been a formal employee of the ADF, but John Aravosis at Americablog found that she had been a member of the ADF 鈥淗onor Corps,鈥� which the group created to recognize allied attorneys who complete 450 hours of pro bono service for the group and to award and recognize 鈥渟ignificant milestones鈥� in service. Honor Corps attorneys also receive perks from the ADF like pro bono referrals and opportunities, job and r茅sum茅 postings, invitations to their regional legal academies, and access to online resources and confidential updates and presentations. In March 2011, Biron was mentioned by the ADF as an 鈥淎llied Attorney Success Story.鈥� The ADF website doesn鈥檛 list that anymore, but you can find it here.
