UCI’s Henisey said investigators have received information indicating that Cornelius and Stanford are the same person.
“Sports photographer Scott Stanford shot and shared this series of pictures in 2004 through internet and within a couple of years the boy has become famous and showed up all over the internet,” a caption next to the photo said. One Web site posts a photo credited to Stanford of a high school player adjusting his trunks. Stanford photo credits are also posted on high school water polo photos on other gay-oriented sites. Other non-action photos of Orange County high school athletes not credited to Stanford remain on the site. The photos credited to Scott Stanford were removed on Friday following Register inquiries made to UC Irvine police and Cornelius. The site had water polo images that listed photo credits for Scott Stanford. … No high school athlete should worry about their picture being taken during the game,” said one Orange County coach, who confirmed water polo photos on a Web site included members of his team. Some of the water polo photos were placed on pages next to photos of young males clad only in thongs and other young males simulating masturbation. The Register found non-action photos of players from 11 Orange County high schools and three other Southern California schools on several pages of, a gay porn site registered to a London address. “To have people from all over the world on these Web site chat rooms talking about what they’d like to do with these kids is disgusting,” Gould said. “I feel my life wasn’t respected as it should,” the player said. Verloop said she immediately notified the families of the situation.Ī photo of one current Orange County player adjusting his suit is the subject of a series of lewd comments on another Web site. … If my kid was on there, you could be sure that I would have these people in court.” “It made me sick to my stomach,” Verloop recalled. “We’re not exactly sure about what we have or what kinds of issues there are.”Ĭornelius did not respond to repeated interview requests.Īlthough the Register’s findings caught a majority of parents, players and coaches by surprise, some in the local water polo community said they were aware of the Web sites last fall.įoothill High parent La Donna Verloop said she saw images of current and former Foothill aquatics athletes on Web sites during the fall. “We’re looking into the matter,” Henisey said. Cornelius remains on “active duty,” according to UCI Police Chief Paul Henisey.
UC Irvine police confirmed they are investigating whether Scott Cornelius, a UCI police dispatcher, photographed high school players for gay-oriented sites. “This is a sport, a sport they’re very passionate about, and for someone to come in and take what these kids are doing and take it out of context and exploit these images, these kids and their schools, because you can see the school name on the caps, is just horrible.” “These kids don’t look at what they do as shameful,” said Joan Gould, an international water polo official and a spokeswoman for a group of Orange County water polo parents. “Based on our research, we have found it’s very hard to regulate images on the Internet,” Smyth said. But (the fact) that these photos are on Web sites, pornographic Web sites, raises valid questions about its legality,” Solorio said.īut Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, and constitutional law experts said the photographers are protected by the First Amendment.
“The courts have generally favored free speech. Solorio, after being informed of the Register’s finding, said he will have the Public Safety Committee staff investigate the matter.