MAN COULD FACE KID PORN CHARGES.

Byline: Jennifer English Daily News

A Canyon Country man accused of offering to perform female circumcision on two children was denied bail this week after a prosecutor said the government is considering seeking to indict him on a child porn charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Aveis said Tuesday Todd Cameron Bertrang, 41, who was arrested Friday, could face a child pornography production charge, which could give him reason to flee if he is released pending trial.

Authorities contend that Bertrang, who has a Web site devoted to body piercing, offered in 2002 to perform circumcision on the fictional 8- and 12-year-old daughters of an undercover FBI agent. During the procedure, which is often associated with African cultures, part of the genitalia are removed.

In what prosecutors have said is the first case of its kind in the United States, Bertrang and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Robyn Faulkinbury, are charged with conspiring to perform the procedure on a minor. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.

In court Wednesday, Aveis said Bertrang may be charged with possession of child pornography that authorities say was found on a laptop computer during a search in December 2002. It was unclear whether the laptop belonged to Bertrang or someone else, and Aveis said related information was filed under seal.

Bertrang also could face a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Six guns were found at his house in spite of his prior conviction for perjury, Aveis said. That stems from a false statement on a driver's license application, according to Bertrang's attorney.

In addition, Bertrang has an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a state fraud charge, the prosecutor said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Carla Woehrle ruled there is too little information in the record to show that Bertrang is not a danger to the community or a flight risk. She ordered Bertrang detained and set arraignment for Feb. 2, provided he has been indicted by then.

Bertrang's attorney, Gary Kast, argued that although Bertrang is involved in piercing, it is against his convictions ``to impose this (female circumcision) on anybody,'' especially a minor.

In a statement read by his attorney, Bertrang said two FBI agents pretending to be an Egyptian woman and her American husband kept trying to get him to agree to perform circumcision despite his refusal.

``I kept telling them it was a federal crime and wrong ... I refused them for 14 months. I never agreed to any such thing and have never done such a thing,'' he stated.

``The FBI woman, claiming to be Egyptian royalty, even yelled at me, claiming 'It's my right as a wife and a mother. It's my children, if I want them cut, I can have them cut.'''

Bertrang calls the case ``an extremist Christian right crackdown on the alternative sex and ... S&M lifestyle.''

Kast said the government has been investigating the case since 2002 without finding a victim.

``From 2002 to today, they have nothing,'' he said. ``The threat to the community is in their minds, rather than the realities.''

According to an affidavit filed in the case, the FBI began investigating after receiving a tip from a woman who believed Bertrang performed circumcision on a girl who was 10 or 11.

The affidavit states Bertrang wrote in an e-mail to an FBI agent that the benefits of the procedure are look and feel, though it could scar the girls emotionally and sexually ``in their mind.''

Authorities claim Faulkinbury assisted Bertrang - who is not licensed to practice medicine in California - in surgical procedures.

During the meeting between Bertrang and the undercover agent, Faulkinbury handed over four notebooks showing photographs Bertrang said were of piercings and genital modifications he had done, the affidavit states.

A woman who was at the house that day told agents later that Bertrang removed parts of her genitalia, according to the affidavit. She said he also performed a ``large-gauge'' nipple piercing, the document states.

Faulkinbury did not seek bail, Aveis said.