Link-->Atchison commits suicide
A federal prosecutor arrested during a sex sting in Detroit last month died by hanging himself inside his cell at a federal detention facility Friday, authorities said.
J.D. Roy Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze was found unresponsive in his cell Friday morning in the special housing unit of the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Mich.
Atchison was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m, federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Mike Truman said.
“His death appears to be the result of suicide,” Truman said. “A thorough investigation is under way.”
Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Bader J. Cassin said an autopsy is scheduled for this afternoon.
Atchison was moved to the federal detention center in Milan on Sept. 20 after a failed suicide attempt at the Sanilac (Mich.) County Jail.
Atchison was an attorney in the Pensacola Office of the U.S. Attorney.
He was arrested Sept. 16 at the Detroit Metropolitan International Airport after corresponding over the Internet with a Macomb County (Mich.) Sheriff’s Office detective who posed as a mother interested in allowing men to engage in sex with her fictitious 5-year-old daughter, authorities said.
Police have said he arrived at the airport carrying a Dora the Explorer doll, hoop earrings and a jar of petroleum jelly.
Atchison had pleaded not guilty in federal court in Detroit to charges of attempted enticement of a minor using the Internet, aggravated sexual abuse and traveling across state lines to have sex with someone under 12. He faced up to life in prison.
He had been scheduled to go to trial Feb. 5.
The troubled prosecutor’s attorney, James Thomas of Detroit, released a statement Friday saying he was “deeply saddened” to hear of Atchison’s death.
“Our heartfelt regrets go out to his wife and children, his parents and his brothers and sisters,” Thomas said. “This is a man who has done a lot of good in his life. Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family.”
In light of Atchison’s death, Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Balaya said the case is closed.
The Detroit office of the FBI planned to investigate Achison’s association with the Gulf Breeze Youth Sports Association, where he was past president.
The News Journal has calls into the agency but it is not known if that investigation will continue. Gulf Breeze Police Chief Peter Paulding said his agency has no investigation under way.
Atchison’s former boss, U.S. Attorney Greg Miller, also released a statement Friday afternoon saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Roy’s family and friends. We hope that with the passage of time, they can find some measure of healing.”
Word of Atchison’s death spread quickly through where Atchison lived as a pillar of the community for more than two decades.
“The only concern I have at this point is the family and that they be able to lead some kind of normal life,” said Gulf Breeze Mayor Lane Gilchrist. “It still flabbergasts me that this whole thing happened. I really don’t know what to say about it.”
Atchison worked as an assistant federal prosecutor in Pensacola since the late 1980s and had a reputation as a highly professional, straight-laced government lawyer. His work included handling asset forfeitures in criminal cases and civil cases in which the United States was a party.
He also presided over the Gulf Breeze Sports Association, a volunteer organization for children through middle-school age.
He was the married father of a college-age son and daughter and a high school-age daughter.
A woman who answered the phone at for the Gulf Breeze Sports Association Friday, said city officials advised them not to comment about Atchison’s death.
The investigation extended to his Shortline Drive home in Gulf Breeze where federal marshals issued a search a warrant just days after Atchison’s arrest. What was taken from Atchison is still under seal under the direction of a federal judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.
An unsealed search warrant showed that federal authorities confiscated a computer from the U.S. Attorney’s Pensacola office on Sept. 25.
A MySpace.com page that a criminal complaint identified as belonging to Atchison says he enjoyed spoiling young girls. The site also had several links to Web sites portraying women dressed in diapers.
Under the user name fldaddy04 and captioned “Experienced, understanding Daddy,” Atchison allegedly described himself in his profile as: “Handsome, educated, professional, experienced Daddy. I love younger girls. Like everything about you ... how you think, talk, act. I’m very understanding and supportive ... never ever judgmental.”
The Internet profile goes on to say that he would like to “pamper, spoil, change and take care of” girls.
His general interests are listed as “surfing, diving, boating ... everything to do with the water ... music and cute girls.”
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