Edward E. Kramer

Edward Eliot Kramer (born March 20, 1961) is an American editor and convicted child molester. Kramer lives in Duluth, Georgia[1] and was a co-founder and part-owner of the Dragon*Con media convention. Kramer has also edited several works in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Before pleading guilty in 2013 to three counts of child molestation, Kramer was the subject of a long-running legal battle that began with his initial arrest in August 2000.

Edward E. Kramer
Born
Edward Eliot Kramer

(1961-03-20) March 20, 1961
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
OccupationEditor
Criminal charge(s)Child molestation
Criminal statusConvicted
Writing career
GenreScience fiction, fantasy, horror, Historical Fiction, Nonfiction
Literary movementStoop
Notable worksThe Sandman: Book of Dreams, The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, Free Space

Early life

Kramer was born in Brooklyn, New York. He holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Emory College and a Master of Public Health in health administration and planning from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University School of Medicine.[1][2]

In the 1980s, Kramer was former program director of the Metropolitan Atlanta Council on Alcohol and Drugs.[3]

Career

Editing

Kramer is the editor of the anthologies Dark Love and Grails (Roc Books); The Sandman: Book of Dreams by Neil Gaiman (HarperPrism); The Crow, by James O'Barr (Random House); Free Space (Tor Books); Forbidden Acts (Avon Books); Elric: Tales of the White Wolf and Pawn of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion (based on the works and characters of Michael Moorcock); Dante's Disciples, Tombs, and the Dark Destiny trilogy[4] (White Wolf); and Strange Attraction: Turns of the Midnight Carnival Wheel (Bereshith Publishing). He has also worked for over a decade as a music critic and photojournalist.[1]

Dragon Con and other events

In 1987, he co-founded Dragon*Con, a convention dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, comics, gaming, and the popular arts.[5] He has not been involved with Dragon Con planning or activities since 2000,[6] but still owned 34% of the business[7] until Kramer's relationship with the convention was ended in July 2013 in a cash-out merger.[8]

He has also chaired the 1990 Atlanta Origins convention, the 1992 Georgia World Fantasy Convention, and the Nebula Awards Weekend, and both the Atlanta World Horror Convention, and the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) in 1995.[1][9] In 1999, he chaired the Atlanta World Horror Convention.[10]

Child sex offense arrests and convictions

2000 arrest

Kramer was arrested on August 25, 2000 following an investigation spurred by an anonymous tip, and charged with molesting three teenage boys. The investigation revealed that he had previously been accused of molestation in 1997 before the alleged victim recanted.[11] Before Kramer was arrested, he had a reputation for inappropriate relationships. According to Atlanta Magazine, he "was constantly surrounded by young boys".[12]

Kramer's first attempt to serve his pre-trial detention in house arrest lasted only a week due to a reported visit by a teenage boy. After that, he was remanded to jail. Kramer subsequently suffered a spinal injury while in jail. In response to that injury, and Kramer's assertion of declining health, Judge Debra Turner allowed him to go back to pre-trial detention in house arrest in January 2001.[11]

In 2007, former congressman Bob Barr said, "There is an overwhelming sense of injustice that pervades all of what has happened to Petitioner Appellant Edward Kramer."[13] Protests to "Free Ed" gained the support of science fiction writers Harlan Ellison, Anne McCaffrey, Robert J Sawyer and J. Neil Schulman.[14] Conversely, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said in September 2010 that Kramer had "done nothing but delay and blame everyone else but himself", agreeing with an assessment that the Georgia Court of Appeals gave in September 2007: "The record strongly indicates that Kramer either sought or knowingly acquiesced in the great majority of the delay and did not want a speedy trial." Kramer and his lawyers disputed this, stating that he had serious health issues that prevented him from sitting through a long trial.[11][15]

In 2008, after seven years of pre-trial detention in house arrest, and numerous delays in his court proceedings, Kramer's travel ban was lifted.[16]

2011 arrest

In September 2011, Kramer was arrested after Connecticut police found him in a motel room, unsupervised, with a 14-year-old boy despite being banned from contacting anyone under 18.[17] The felony "risk of injury to a child" was added to the list of charges for which he was to stand trial.[18]

In September 2012, Kramer was being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, a maximum security facility in Suffield, Connecticut,[19][20] before his extradition to Georgia in January 2013.[21] On April 26, 2013, he was denied the chance to post bail, as the presiding judge concluded based on past behavior that he was likely to break the conditions of his bond.[22]

Guilty plea to 2000 charges

On December 2, 2013, more than thirteen years after his 2000 arrest, Kramer entered an Alford plea[23] to one charge for each of the three victims, just before his trial was scheduled to start.[24][25] In 2014, he sought to reverse the 2013 plea, with his lawyer claiming Kramer was forced into the plea bargain through prosecutorial misconduct.[23] The Georgia State Attorney's Office ordered the recusal of both the district attorney and the Gwinnett District Attorney's Office from the case, since they were also witnesses in the action. All Gwinnett County Judges voluntarily recused themselves as well.[26]

2019 arrest and indictment

On February 27, 2019, Kramer was arrested by officers from the Lawrenceville Police Department for allegedly taking photos of a young boy at a doctor's office.[27]

On September 18, 2019, Kramer, along with Gwinnett County Judge Kathryn Schrader, was indicted after being allowed improper access to the county’s secure computer network.[28] Kramer was later charged with possession of child pornography as a result of that investigation.[29] Judge Schrader was subsequently suspended from the bench, pending the outcome of a trial.

Plea and trial

On February 3, 2020, Kramer entered an Alford plea of guilty to charges related to trespass into the secure computer network.[30] On February 18, 2020 Schrader's court case resulted in a mistrial.[31]

Bibliography
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References
  1. "Aussiecon Three Biographies". Aussiecon Three. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  2. "Philanthropy: Donor Report 1997-1998". Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Fall 1998. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  3. "Cocaine No. 1 concern at drug council". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 1986-08-21.
  4. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  5. Cohen, Benyamin (September–October 2004). "Truth, Justice, and Ed Kramer". The Atlanta Jewish Times. Archived from the original on 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  6. "LAWRENCEVILLE: DragonCon founder arrested in Connecticut". WXIA-TV. September 15, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  7. Simmons, Andria (November 19, 2011). "DragonCon faces appeal; Co-founder fights dismissal of case against event". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  8. Pantozzi, Jill. "DRAGON*CON OFFICIALLY SEPARATES FROM FOUNDER, ACCUSED MOLESTER, ED KRAMER". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  9. "1992 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Convention. Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  10. "World Horror 1999". World Horror Convention. Archived from the original on 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  11. Scott, Henry (2002-01-30). "The wizard of Dragon*Con stands trial". Creative Loafing Atlanta. Archived from the original on 2010-10-12.
  12. Henry, Scott (September 1, 2012). "In the Shadows". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  13. Bob Barr, J Neil Schulman (August 3, 2007). Former US Rep Bob Barr on legal prosecution of Ed Kramer (YouTube).
  14. "Free Ed - Just let Ed Kramer go". National Center for Reason and Justice. 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  15. Boone, Christian (September 4, 2010). "Molestation charges linger against Dragon Con founder". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  16. Henry, Scott (2009-10-29). "Ed Kramer finally to stand trial?". Creative Loafing (Atlanta).
  17. Simmons, Andria (2011-09-16). "$50K bond for DragonCon founder Kramer". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  18. Simmons, Andria (2011-09-16). "Court to decide where to prosecute DragonCon founder first". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  19. Department of Correction, State of Connecticut (April 6, 2012). "Connecticut Inmate Information". Archived from the original on July 28, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  20. Scott, Henry (September 1, 2012). "In the Shadows". Atlanta Magazine. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  21. Reddy, Frank (January 21, 2013). "DragonCon co-founder booked into Gwinnett jail". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  22. Simmons, Andria (April 26, 2013). "DragonCon founder denied bond". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  23. Visser, Steve (November 14, 2014). "DA 'knew' conviction would not end Dragon Con co-founder's court presence". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  24. "Dragon Con co-founder trial set to begin". WXIA-TV. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  25. Boone, Christian (December 1, 2013). "Dragon Con co-founder finally set to begin". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  26. Visser, Steve (January 8, 2015). "All Gwinnett Superior Courts judges opt out of DragonCon founder's case". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  27. Hughes, Isabel (February 28, 2019). "Convicted sex offender, DragonCon co-founder Ed Kramer back in jail". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  28. Coyne, Amanda C. (September 18, 2019). "BREAKING: Gwinnett judge, DragonCon co-founder indicted in hacking case". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  29. Estep, Tyler (September 30, 2019). "Hacking probe leads to new child porn charges for DragonCon co-founder". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  30. Curt Yeomans (February 3, 2020). "Ed Kramer takes Alford plea in computer trespassing case; Schrader going on trial alone". Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  31. Tony Thomas (February 18, 2020). "Mistrial declared in case against Gwinnett County judge". WSB-TV.com. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
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