BROWNSVILLE, Texas — An elderly man who once faced child pornography charges in Franklin County was arrested last week in Texas in a similar instance of having pictures of nude children posted to the wall of his RV.
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents charged Patrick John McGovern, 64, with child pornography charges during the pre-Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Federal court records show McGovern’s RV with Minnesota license plates broke down in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store in Harlingen, Texas.
A repairman was going inside the RV but McGovern told him, “I hope you’re not offended by the pictures on my wall.” The repairman reported that he saw pictures of nude women but also of nude little girls.
Court records show the repairman reported it to Harlingen police, who notified HSI.
A search warrant revealed McGovern had at least 437 images of nudes and semi-nudes inside his RV while it was parked outside another Wal-Mart in Brownsville, Texas.
Court records reveal McGovern also had scanners, photo paper and a printer as well as children’s computer games, children’s movies, a child’s bicycle part and a colorful toy.
A federal search warrant reveals the nude photos of children in McGovern’s RV are believed to be those of nudist families, and surrounded by sexually explicit photos of adult women.
In one set of photos, McGovern allegedly cut out nude photos of children and posed them as if they were kissing.
HSI agents also reported finding toy dolls where markings defined their genital areas.
Federal agents also found religious items such as a holy water container, cruet, censer, altar cards, paten, missal stand and ciborium. Court records show McGovern described himself as a “traveling brother” or minister who was on his way to Mexico or South America.
McGovern appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Morgan in Brownsville on Nov. 24.
Morgan denied bond for McGovern and then the following day signed an order dismissing the federal charges but noting state prosecutors have filed a detainer against McGovern.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz confirmed his office is assisting the Brownsville Police Department in taking over the case.
McGovern remains in custody at the Cameron County Jail where he is being held on a state child pornography charge.
In November 2012, McGovern was arrested for a similar incident in Apalachicola, when police entered his RV parked near 10-Foot-Hole.
The Times reported McGovern was drifter who traveled throughout the United States and Central America but was originally believed to be from Minnesota.
McGovern told Apalachicola police at the time that he was a “naturalist,” a term often used to describe nudists.
Investigator Brett Johnson said at the time about McGovern’s photo collection that “they were everywhere, every cabinet, every wall, every ceiling, everywhere. There was not an inch of that camper that did not have a nude photograph on it.”
Court records show the 10 counts of possessing child pornography against McGovern were dismissed in July 2013.
Kevin Steiger, Franklin County’s assistant public defender, was McGovern’s defense attorney for the charges.
Steiger said the images police found, which were also of children at nudist camps, did not meet the definition of child pornography under Florida state law. Specifically, the photos seized in the Florida case did not show the children engaging in provocative or sexual acts.
Steiger said he has spoken with McGovern several times in the past and that he did not break the law as it is written. “He’s harmless,” Steiger said. “He wouldn’t harm a fly.”
Sergio Chapa is a reporter of KGBT-TV, a CBS affiliate for the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.