Juvenile cellphone “sexting” is the technological equivalent of playing doctor, something that has been part of human behavior for as long as anyone can remember. Sexual curiosity is a natural part of physical and emotional development in children, and only the most zealous of prudes would argue that innocent exploration ought to constitute a crime. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Child Pornography
Split Second Circuit panel declares within-guideline child porn possession sentence of 225 months “substantively unreasonable”
A dozen years after Booker, the reversal of any federal sentence as substantively unreasonable is still quite rare and notable. Today, a Second Circuit panel has issued such a rare and notable decision in US v. Jenkinss, No. 14-4295 (2d Cir. April 17, 2017) Full Article
Read MoreFL: Judge imposes 100 years in prison for child porn possession for first offender claiming innocence
A 36-year-old St. Johns County man is looking at spending the rest of his life behind bars after Circuit Court Judge Howard Maltz sentenced him to 100 years in prison Wednesday morning. The sentencing came nearly two months after a jury found ____ ____ guilty on 20 counts of possession of child pornography at the end of a two-day February trial. Full Article
Read MoreFBI Used Best Buy’s Geek Squad To Increase Secret Public Surveillance
Recently unsealed records reveal a much more extensive secret relationship than previously known between the FBI and Best Buy’s Geek Squad, including evidence the agency trained company technicians on law-enforcement operational tactics, shared lists of targeted citizens and, to covertly increase surveillance of the public, encouraged searches of computers even when unrelated to a customer’s request for repairs. Full Article
Read MoreWho Is a Sex Offender?
You are not going to like this article. In fact, unless you are on the sex offender list or someone you care about is being forced to live with this stigma, chances are that you have almost no sympathy for those who have been found guilty of sex crimes. I would like to ask you to think about these people with an open mind. As the father of a daughter, I can tell you that I regularly checked the sex offender web sites to know which of my neighbors to…
Read MoreVA: Teen Girl Sent Teen Boy 5 Inappropriate Pictures. He Faced Lifetime Registry as a ‘Violent Sex Offender’ or 350 Years in Jail.
Zachary, now 19, is in jail awaiting sentencing for five pictures his teenage girlfriend sent him of herself in her underwear. He faced a choice between a possible (though unlikely) maximum sentence of 350 years in prison, or lifetime on the sex offender registry as a “sexually violent offender”—even though he never met the girl in person. Here’s what happened. Full Article
Read MoreThe FBI ran a child porn site to catch predators, and now the accused are crying foul
When ____ ____ ____ logged into a large child pornography website and downloaded images using his work computer, he was charged with receipt and possession of child pornography. The operator of the website that was exploiting children, however, was not arrested. That’s because it was the FBI. And federal prosecutors are defending the agency’s decision to secretly hijack and peddle child porn for two weeks as part of a sting operation. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Lawmakers say judges being too lenient on people possessing child porn
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Beginning July 1 last year, people convicted of possession of child porn were subject to more lenient punishments after sentencing guidelines for the charge were reduced. “We think that that decision is irresponsible; it affects public safety,” said Camille Cooper with the National Association to Protect Children. Cooper supports bills including SB 1278 that aim at making sentencing guidelines what they were prior to last year’s changes. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Lawmakers say judges being too lenient on people possessing child porn
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Beginning July 1 last year, people convicted of possession of child porn were subject to more lenient punishments after sentencing guidelines for the charge were reduced. “We think that that decision is irresponsible; it affects public safety,” said Camille Cooper with the National Association to Protect Children. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia court upholds child porn reporting law
Therapists in California can be required to report patients who have looked at child pornography on the Internet despite the therapists’ claim that their clients are entitled to confidentiality and pose no threat to children, a state appeals court ruled Monday. Full Article Decision Background:Los Angeles Drug Counselor to Therapists: Don’t Out Child Porn Patients Assembly Bill No. 1775
Read MoreBest Buy Geek Squad Informant Use Has FBI on Defense in Child-Porn Case [updated]
FBI agents and prosecutors usually strut inside Santa Ana’s Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, knowing they’ve focused the wrath of the criminal-justice system on a particular criminal. But an unusual child-pornography-possession case has placed officials on the defensive for nearly 26 months. Questions linger about law-enforcement honesty, unconstitutional searches, underhanded use of informants and twisted logic. Given that a judge recently ruled against government demands to derail a defense lawyer’s dogged inquiry into the mess, United States of America v. ____ _ ____ is likely to produce additional courthouse embarrassments in 2017. Full Article…
Read More60-year Sentence in Child Pornography Case Is Found Substantively Reasonable
On Tuesday, the Second Circuit issued a decision in United States v. Brown. The opinion presents an interesting debate about how the federal system punishes defendants accused of child pornography charges. I encourage defense attorneys to check out both the concurrence and dissent, for some powerful arguments about the risks of unreasonable sentences in child pornography cases. Full Article
Read MoreJudge has ‘ethical and legal’ concerns over FBI running a massive ‘dark web’ child-porn site
A federal judge said he has “ethical and legal” concerns over the Department of Justice’s decision to take control of a child-pornography bulletin board and allow the distribution of as many as 1 million illegal images while agents hacked the computers of the site’s visitors. Full Article
Read MoreAUS: Man who kept sexts between underage step-daughter and boyfriend to show police placed on sex offenders register
A man who kept sexts sent by his teenage step-daughter to her boyfriend has been convicted under child pornography laws and placed on the sex offenders register. Full Article
Read MoreTeens and sex: When laws don’t keep up with reality
An 11-year-old girl in Michigan streaking in front of her brothers was charged with a sex crime. A 14-year-old boy in Minnesota was charged with distributing child pornography after sending a photo of his genitals to a female classmate. Another 14-year-old boy in South Dakota was charged with rape after getting his 13-year-old girlfriend pregnant. These are all cases that have been worked on by Nicole Pittman, vice president and director of the Center on Youth Registration Reform in California. Full Article
Read MoreIA: Why Prosecuting a Teen Girl for Sexting Is Absurd
A 14-year-old in Iowa is facing sexual exploitation charges for sharing a suggestive photo of herself – and that’s not as rare as you might think. Full Article Related http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/10/05/iowa_prosecutor_might_charge_a_teen_with_sex_crimes_for_taking_a_selfie.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_fb_top
Read MoreWhy Current Child Porn Laws Imprison the Wrong People (Opinion)
Growing up, I was taught that prison was a place where people went when they did bad things. It was simple then: There were good people and there were bad people. As I got older, the picture grew more complicated. I saw good people do bad things, and I saw bad people do good things. But recently, when one of the best people in my world did something that landed him in prison, my beliefs about the justice system and how it punishes American citizens were completely upended. Full Article
Read MoreFBI’s massive porn sting puts internet privacy in crossfire
For two weeks in the spring of 2015, the FBI was one of the largest purveyors of child pornography on the internet. After arresting the North Carolina administrator of The Playpen, a “dark web” child-pornography internet bulletin board, agents seized the site’s server and moved it to an FBI warehouse in Virginia. They then initiated “Operation Pacifier,” a sting and computer-hacking operation of unparalleled scope that has thus far led to criminal charges against 186 people, including at least five in Washington state. Full Article
Read More