John David Norman

Norman's criminal record dates back to the 1950s, when he was twice arrested for sexual assault in Houston in 1954 and 1956, though it is unknown if he was convicted of any crime in these cases.[11] Court records and some news reports indicate he was first convicted of sex crimes in 1960.[7][4][12] Norman was convicted of sexual assault in California in 1963, and in federal court in 1970 for sending obscene literature through the mail.[11] He received a 15-month prison sentence for the federal charge and served time at the McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary.[1]^: 41[13]

On August 13, 1973, Dallas police raided Norman's apartment at 3716 Cole Avenue based on a tip from a man in San Francisco that he was running a homosexual prostitution ring called the Odyssey Foundation. Police seized booklets bearing the name International and containing photographs and contact information of teenage boys and young men, as well as 30,000 index cards listing between 50,000 and 100,000 clients located in 35 U.S. states.[11][14]

Dallas Police Lt. Harold Hancock told the Chicago Tribune in May 1977 that prominent public figures and federal employees were among the names found in Norman's client list. Investigators sent the index cards to the State Department, a fact confirmed by State Department Counselor Matthew Nimetz. Nimetz stated that the State Department destroyed the index cards after determining them to be "not relevant to any fraud case concerning a passport".[14] Norman was charged with possessing marijuana, conspiracy to commit sodomy and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile; he was released on bail.[11]

The Odyssey Foundation groomed teenaged boys and young men from bus stations, or because they were known to be homosexuals. These boys and young men (referred to as "fellows") were photographed for the booklets and trafficked to clients (referred to as "sponsors") who paid for their "company". The "fellows" were trafficked across the country, staying with "sponsors" for one to three days on average before traveling to the next "sponsor".[11]

After being released in Dallas, Norman fled to Homewood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in late August or early September 1973.[1]^: 39[14] Using the name Steve Gurwell, he began living with Charles Rehling, an Odyssey client from Homewood. Norman had previously trafficked a 16-year-old boy from Independence, Missouri, to Rehling, who went on a trip to Europe with the boy.[1]^: 38–39[14]

During his time in Homewood, Norman sexually abused ten teenage boys, enticing them with beer, showing them pornography and committing acts such as groping and oral sex upon them.[1][14] Homewood Police received an anonymous call on October 31, 1973, stating that "Steve Gurwell" (Norman) was sexually abusing boys. Norman was out of town at the time, but police were able to locate Rehling who assisted them in their investigation. Upon his return to Homewood on November 14, Norman was arrested and charged with five counts of indecent liberties with a child and eight counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.[1]^{: 38, 45, 48–49}

In the spring of 1976, while still awaiting trial on charges related to the Homewood crimes, Norman was bailed out of Cook County Jail for $36,000 by an unknown person from California. In December 1976 he was sentenced to four years in prison and sent to Pontiac Correctional Center.[15][14] Shortly before he was released on bail, Norman began his next sex operation, the Delta Project, and began publishing a newsletter called Hermes. From Cook County Jail, Norman sent out three newsletters using the jail's printing press, claiming that the Delta Project aimed to "provide educational, travel and self-development opportunities for qualified young men of character and integrity" and that "Delta-Dorms" were being established across the U.S. with each dorm having two to four "cadets" overseen by a "don". Police alleged that the "cadets" were underaged male prostitutes recruited in Chicago. In a May 1977 interview with the Tribune, Norman denied that Project Delta was sexual in nature and claimed to have sent the newsletter to over 7,000 people. At the time of the interview, police said that the newsletter had 5,000 subscribers and grossed over $300,000 per year.[15][14]

Norman was paroled in the fall of 1977, but was arrested again in Chicago in June 1978 for having sex with two underage boys from a local foster home and taking pornographic pictures of both. One of the boys informed investigators that Norman was in the process of selling him to a client and he (Norman) was simply "waiting for [his] plane ticket".[16]

Norman was accused of re-founding the Delta Project, now called the Creative Corps and M-C Publications, after being released from prison and operating it out of his apartment at 685 1/2 West Wrightwood Avenue, allegedly sending photos of the boys to a "don" in Canada.[17][18] In a raid of the apartment, 20,000 pink index cards (or possibly 50,000 to 100,000) containing the names of customers were found.[19][20]

Between October 1983 and May 1984, Norman produced and published a child pornography magazine called Handy Andy from his rural home and a nearby motel in Aspers, Pennsylvania. He exploited at least twenty teenage boys from the area, enticing them with drugs and alcohol and photographing them engaged in various sex acts.[21][6] Norman fled Pennsylvania after his home was raided on May 31, 1984, but was captured in Bolingbrook, Illinois, in October 1984. He was released on bail in March 1985 and promptly fled again.[21][4]

Norman was captured in August 1987 in Urbana, Illinois, and given a six-year prison sentence for crimes in Illinois.[12] He was later extradited to Pennsylvania and sentenced to 18 months to 36 months in prison for charges related to Handy Andy. A 1986 news report focusing on Handy Andy stated that Norman was wanted in five different states for child sex crimes.[6]

Norman was convicted of child molestation in Colorado in 1988 and of distributing child pornography in California in 1995 and 1998.[8] He was released from prison in California in 1999, but was declared a sexually violent predator and was detained indefinitely at Atascadero State Hospital.[7] He was eventually released from Atascadero to the rural town of Boulevard, California, under strict conditions.[8][7] On February 2, 2009, Norman violated those conditions by giving a note containing his contact information to a 19-year-old grocery bagger in El Centro. In March 2009 he was ordered back into state custody, this time at Coalinga State Hospital, where he died in 2011.[7][9][22]