Dan Noyes: You told me that you want people to know something. What do you want people to know?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": That I'm not this dominatrix that everyone has- I'm a simple girl who turned in someone that was doing something extremely wrong. And that's about it.
Dan Noyes: So tell me who you were at the time this all happened?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": 30-year-old mother of three, stay at home mom, chattin' on-line. That's all I was.
Dan Noyes: Tell me how all this happened.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I was introduced to him, to Bernie.
Dan Noyes: How so?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": A friend of mine had said an acquaintance of mine had said, "Look, I know somebody," and she was interested, I was interested in doing the domination thing and he was submissive and so she introduced me to him, chatted back and forth and that's when this whole melee' happened.
Dan Noyes: So, the domination thing, was that something new for you or was that something you had been doing?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was something new, fairly new.
Dan Noyes: Why an interest in that? Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I just think it was another aspect of sexuality that I was interested in and exploring that piece and then this is what it turned into.
Dan Noyes: I wonder where on the internet you found the friend who then introduced you to Bernie.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I had actually known her prior, I did not meet her on-line.
Dan Noyes: In real life.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": A real life friend.
Dan Noyes: And she had met Bernie on-line.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": On-line. I don't know where she met him on-line, but she did meet him on-line.
Dan Noyes: So then, you would meet him where?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": She gave me his screen name and we chatted back and forth on IM.
Dan Noyes: Using IM.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": IM, and that's exactly how we met.
Dan Noyes: Before that one day when he sent you the child porn, how many times had you talked to him?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I talked to him probably a good two, maybe three weeks prior to that.
Dan Noyes: What sorts of conversations?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Same thing, domination submission conversations.
Dan Noyes: I wonder what you thought about this guy?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": At first, I just thought he was a submissive guy that was trying to explore his sexuality, as well, and then it started turning as we all know, turning a little bit more dark.
Dan Noyes: So, tell me about that day, the day that it all kind of blew up, tell me what happened?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was a simple day, I remember it was in December, close to Christmas, you know, my kids weren't home and I was chatting on-line like I always did, he had popped up chattin' on-line, he had asked me as we all know from the IM's, "I like to trade pics." "Well, send me some," cause he really had never sent me any pics.
Dan Noyes: And just to be clear here, he's the one who had brought up the idea of pictures.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Yes, and he as I said sent me pics and up in my mail came up child porn.
Dan Noyes: He had sent a few pictures at that time, was the very first one child porn?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I don't quite remember the order that it went in.
Dan Noyes: So he sent you child porn.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Uh-huh. Dan Noyes: Describe the picture for me.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":It was from my best recollection it was a mother or a woman who appeared topless and two children who appeared adolescents, they were probably in their teens, maybe a little bit younger, and in a sexually compromising position.
Dan Noyes: And you asked Bernie about the picture, he says it's a 14-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl, the mother in her thirties was topless, the mother was guiding the young girl, the 12-year-old girl's hand onto the 14-year-old's penis.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Yes.
Dan Noyes: When you saw that, what went through your mind?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Oh my God, basically, I was, my stomach wrenched, my stomach turned, I was trying to figure out what do I do? And that's when I came to the conclusion I needed to call the Oakdale police department.
Dan Noyes: I want to explore that a little more, when you say your stomach wrenched, how so? Why?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, children shouldn't be put in sexually compromising positions at all, and then to be taking pictures of and sent around the internet was just mind-blowing to me.
Dan Noyes: And here you are, you're a mother of three young girls, at that point, a two-year-old was your youngest, right?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Uh-huh.
Dan Noyes: So, you see this photograph and it really had an effect on you.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Oh yes.
Dan Noyes: How quickly, once that picture popped up, how quickly were you on the phone with police?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Probably 5, 10 minutes. Maybe a little bit longer, but it wasn't at all even close to an hour, it was less than that.
Dan Noyes: Because I see in the transcript, you say, "Brb," be right back, and you're on the phone to police.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy":Uh-huh.
Dan Noyes: What happens next?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": They told me, well, we'll come out and they did and they look at the photo and they said that they were going to check my computer--to keep on talking to him to see if he can send me more photos which he then did. The conversations got a little bit more sexual as in one of those from IM's, it started, it just got worse and worse.
Dan Noyes: He was bringing up things about kids, about his own kids, and it's clear at different times you dissuade him from involving his own children. Explain that to me.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": He had asked me permission several times if he could do sexual things with his children or have his children watch and I simply said no. It was just not even a question in my mind that "A" he was involving me, trying to involve me in something illegal "A", and "B" it was just something that was just disgusting, and I just even couldn't bear to think about it.
Dan Noyes: And at one point, he describes being there at the computer in his boxer shorts and his-- I guess a tank top t-shirt and his daughter had walked in. I guess he said that she wanted to say hi to you, and you told him to put on his pants.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Uh-huh.
Dan Noyes: You were looking out for his kids in a way.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Someone had to. I mean, they're innocent children. And he, you know, just cause someone is as sick as that and to even ask me that, doesn't mean his children need to be put in any compromising position, and I have children myself, and I wouldn't want anyone to do it to mine, so I was watching out for his children, or trying to.
Dan Noyes: I just want to be clear, at any point before Bernie Ward sent you child porn, had you expressed an interest in children?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Absolutely not.
Dan Noyes: So, describe the chat to me, was it all about man and woman?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was about man and woman, domming, at one point, it did get into a conversation about man on man, but it was all adult consensual things that we were talking about.
Dan Noyes: Did you ever express an interest in children?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": No, absolutely not.
Dan Noyes: You contact the police, they tell you to keep on chatting with Ward to get a record, some evidence to prosecute him with.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Yes.
Dan Noyes: So, describe that scene to me that you were talking about. It was around Christmas time and you're there with your three young daughters.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I'm on a website tracking Santa for my girls, and up pops Bernie Ward on my next IM screen and I have to continue on talking to him while tracking Santa for my children.
Dan Noyes: So you're tracking Santa on one screen and here's Bernie Ward with the sex talk on another, with your daughters there, of course you're trying to shield them.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Back and forth, my children were never by my computer, they were just asking me where's Santa's at and I would go on there, tell them where's Santa's at and I tried to continue on my conversation with Bernie Ward.
Dan Noyes: What was that like for you?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Very stressful.
Dan Noyes: How so? What do you mean?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I was trying to be a mom, but I was also trying to do what I was supposed to do for the police, and it was almost like I was being pulled in two different directions because at any given time, my children would be sitting there, I could be talking to Bernie Ward and I would have to go out to get my children from the school bus. So, it was almost like I was being torn between the two almost because I wanted this man put to justice and I wanted this evidence, but I also had to take care of my own.
Dan Noyes: This continues over a series of days.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Yes.
Dan Noyes: And Bernie Ward sent you more pictures.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Yes.
Dan Noyes: How many photographs of child porn did he send you?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": If I remember correctly, it's four years ago, it's about three or four.
Dan Noyes: Describe them for me the best you can.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": They're pretty sexual in content, I mean pretty gut wrenching pictures being that I have children myself. They're all sexual in content. They were pretty graphic pictures.
Dan Noyes: At one point, Bernie Ward and his attorneys tried to indicate to me that the photographs he had were innocent photographs of a family at a nudist colony. Were there any pictures like that?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
Dan Noyes: It was graphic, sexual activity with children.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was graphic, yes.
Dan Noyes: As police said between four and seventeen.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Yes.
Dan Noyes: At one point did you realize, this is Bernie Ward, the famous talk show host?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": The FBI told me.
Dan Noyes: Oh, the FBI, so throughout this process, you didn't realize it until the FBI told you.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I thought it was just some pervert on the other side of the computer that I was turning in for doing something bad until someone told me that his name was Bernie Ward and he was a radio talk show host.
Dan Noyes: With your help, the police got more information, the FBI took it over, Bernie Ward's been prosecuted, he's now pleaded guilty, he's lost his career, he's going to prison. What do you think about that?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I think that he needs to sit in that prison cell and I think he needs to think about what he did. What he did didn't affect just one person, it affected those children that he had on that computer screen that are all over the internet, it affected me, I was highly stressed, it put me into a deep depression for four years. And I think he needs to sit there and I think that justice has been served.
Dan Noyes: Bernie Ward continues to say that he was doing research for a book into hypocrisy and the Republicans. What do you think about that?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I think it's the most absurd thing I have ever heard, number one, I'm not even a Republican, number two, it's just, it's just actually made me chuckle when I heard it because there was no amounting for it, you don't send somebody child porn to do research for a book.
Dan Noyes: It seemed to me that he wasn't asking you a lot of questions, he wasn't like getting information about you, he was more expressing his own desires and interests, right?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Yeah, and if he was trying to make a hypocrisy book, wouldn't he be asking me the questions and trying to figure out what I'm doing? Instead, he's giving me all his information.
Dan Noyes: Did you ever form an opinion whether this was just fantasy for him or it was real for him?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Fantasy, I think it kind of delved in between because fantasy is one thing but when you're bringing in—I knew he had four children before even the news reports came out, so fantasy and reality all of a sudden are blurred because you're telling me you have four children. It's no longer role playing when you tell me you have four children and you're doing these things. And even if it was fantasy, it's the sickest fantasy I've ever heard of.
Dan Noyes: Some of his supporters have criticized you for asking for pictures. What do you say to that?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I never asked for pictures. It's clear in black and white—
Dan Noyes: Until the police got involved.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Hm-hmm.
Dan Noyes: But then you were helping the police.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I never asked for pictures before that. I mean if I had asked for pictures before that, he wouldn't have told me he liked to trade pics. He would have said, "Here's some more pics for you." So, and he clearly said, "I like to trade pics," and that's when he sent me pictures.
Dan Noyes: You've seen all those articles that describe you as a dominatrix. Is that in any way accurate?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Not at all, I am a simple woman, I work, I'm a mother of three, it was a part of my life, I was exploring something, who hasn't, and I just got caught up in something that was not at all fun.
Dan Noyes: It was on-line, though, in your personal life, were you ever--
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": No, not at all.
Dan Noyes: --being a dominatrix in real life?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": No, uh-hmm. No, I never wielded a whip, though there is some people I wish I would have with, but no, I haven't.
Dan Noyes: Who's Stacey?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": That is the person that introduced me to Bernie Ward.
Dan Noyes: Oh, okay, and so you were telling Bernie that you didn't want him to talk to Stacey.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Hm-hmm.
Dan Noyes: Okay, you say that you don't feel badly for him losing his job and being prosecuted, I wonder if you have any sympathy for his wife and four kids.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I do. They're innocent in the matter and to them, my condolences, and that's all I really can say.
Dan Noyes: Was there ever a point where you thought, let me just delete this stuff and forget about it and not answer his IM's any more?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": There were, there were points that I was like it would probably be a lot easier on me, but how did I know he wasn't really doing this to his children and to other children, and I couldn't set back and let him—in the IM's he specifically told me he was doing stuff, you know, giving oral sex to his son. His son was underage and that by no means at all is legal and by no means is it moral, and so it needed to be stopped.
Dan Noyes: Looking back on this, what do you think about what happened?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I think that it was a stupid idea of him to even start the conversation up and just I had to do what I had to do.
Dan Noyes: And now, you told me about this earlier, that you're now at work and you hear it around, explain that to me.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I have people that I'll hear at my counter go, "Hey, did you hear about that girl from Oakdale, they call her the sex fairy," and I'm trying to be nonchalant cause they don't know it's me. But, I'm sitting there and I'm listening to it and I've heard everything from good for her, we should have more people like that in this world and back and forth. And it does make me feel like I've done the right thing and that other people will see that I have done the right thing.
Dan Noyes: Where'd the name Sexfairy come from?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": It was a nickname that my husband, my ex-husband gave me a long time ago because I collected fairies and it was just something funny and I used that as a screen name.
Dan Noyes: I wonder if you regret any part of this.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": No. None.
Dan Noyes: Is there something you would have done differently?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": No, not at all. I think I did what I needed to do and justice was served.
Dan Noyes: And then the last thing I wanted to ask you was, you said that seeing those images had a lasting impact on you. How so?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I still have nightmares.
Dan Noyes: Really?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Uh-hmm. I still have nightmares. I still, I have children of my own and they still to this day will, they'll be burned in my memory forever, forever that and the IM chats of him telling me what he was doing to his own children and I couldn't really at that point do anything about it.
Dan Noyes: Does it help you to believe perhaps things he was saying were just fantasy on-line?
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": I'm hoping, I am for the sake of his children. I am hoping that's exactly what they were, fantasy.
Dan Noyes: I see you tearing up a little bit. It has that much impact on you.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Oh yeah, yeah, it stressed me out for a very long time. Depressed me for a very long time.
Dan Noyes: Really depressed.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Oh yeah, very.
Dan Noyes: Was it mainly because you're a mom of three young daughters?
Dan Noyes: Oh yeah, every time I looked at my children, I was like you know that could have been them in those pictures. And you know if it was, if someone had taken pictures of my children, I honestly wish that somebody would have done the same thing I did.
Dan Noyes: Anything else you want to say, anything else you want people to know?
Dan Noyes: No, I'm just a normal girl that just tried to do the right thing. And no children should be harmed that way and no children should be taken pictures of that way. And I just had to do what I had to do.
Dan Noyes: I appreciate you talking to us.
Linda Figueiredo, "Sexfairy": Thank you.
