Patrick A. Trueman: States Need to Grapple with Pornography Problem and Disparities

Two stories about child pornography convictions that appeared in Friday’s news illustrate the significant disparities that exist in our system. One from the federal system appears in a Brownsville Herald article by Sergio Chappa, “Man gets 20 years for viewing child porn.” A second from a state system appears in the Richmond Times Dispatch: “Man gets six months for child pornography.”

The stories illustrate a frustrating problem: many, and perhaps most, states have not understood the serious threat of child pornography or pornography in general. It is vital that state laws be updated.

Pat Trueman
ADF Special Counsel

Toward the end of the Administration of President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to the end of the administration of President George H.W. Bush, Patrick Trueman served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Criminal Division.