Source: newstalkkzrg.com 7/19/24
[ACSOL is posting this as a warning of harsh sentences for computer images]
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A West Plains, Mo., man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for possessing hundreds of computer-generated images of child sexual abuse.
Dace Allen _____, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Allen to 15 years of supervised release following incarceration.
…
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
It seems that anything involving media (computer generated or otherwise) almost always carries a significantly harsher punishment than any actual contact/”hands-on” offense.
Personally, I’ll never understand the “logic” that someone merely possessing a recording of something (or even an artificial depiction) is, for some inexplicable reason, considered to be multitudes worse than the physical thing itself.
However, we are not a rational species, and this is definitely not an era of logic or reason. Pixels qualify as “victims”…looking at computer generated cartoons can now land you in prison for a decade (or more), and on the registry. “Thought crime” is no longer the stuff of some fictional dystopian future…it’s already here. We’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole now, that there’s no turning back…
This guy got off easy in the federal system. Ten years in prison and fifteen years on supervised release for a repeat offense? I know people with a first time offense who got that much prison time with lifetime supervised release for possession only. Child porn (CP) cases are meat and potatoes for federal prosecutors. They are nearly impossible to defend against; possession is ten–not nine–tenths of the law. Many people convicted of CP offenses used a peer-to-peer network, which nearly always means a receipt and distribution offense. The feds are getting really good at tracking down people who commit internet CP offenses.
With CP cases, sentencing enhancements usually take the offense level to around 30. For a person with a first time offense the recommendation translates to 97-121 months. For someone with a single prior felony, level 30 translates to 108-135 months. Granted that after the Booker decision these sentencing ranges are no longer mandatory. The judge you get is a roll of the dice, and some of them are hanging judges when it comes to CP. The supervised release statute requires a minimum of 5 years and allows a maximum of lifetime supervised release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recommends lifetime supervised release be given for all sex offenses. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(k) for supervised release.
ACSOL’s warning about harsh sentences for CP should be taken to heart. If you really want to get scared, take a look at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2255 and 2255A.
I don’t agree with these computer generated images being available, but I have to ask who was harmed, who is the victim? We have been told that CP is illegal because children are exploited, they are being used and often hurt physically. But There is no victim here.
We know our system of justice is terrible and the consequences for victimless crimes life-destroying. That’s been true for a long time, now.
So, I have to ask, why are people taking these risks needlessly? How is it that so many people seem to be completely unaware of basic security measures that would keep them from being thrown into cages for decades?
Just as we urge people not to talk with police without a lawyer, we need to urge them not to take unnecessary, easily mitigated risks with their electronics?
Privacy is our right and we must safeguard it jealously. Build a wall that keeps out the bad guys.